Damian Lewis & more join Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Quentin Tarantino is typically able to recruit quite the ensemble of talented folks for his movies, and the upcoming ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is no exception. Taking place during the height of hippy Hollywood in Los Angeles during 1969, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as former Western TV star Rick Dalton who is struggling to stay relevant in Hollywood. Brad Pitt also stars as Dalton's longtime stunt double, Cliff Booth. "Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don’t recognize anymore," Tarantino has said. "But Rick has a very famous next-door neighbor…Sharon Tate." The bloody reign of terror of the Manson Family is said to provide a backdrop to the story, and in addition to Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is also set to star Margot Robbie, Burt Reynolds, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Madsen, and Tim Roth.

Deadline now reports that the cast has grown even larger with the addition of over half-a-dozen actors, including Damian Lewis, Luke Perry, Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, Clifton Collins Jr., Keith Jefferson, and Nicholas Hammond. Who might these actors be playing? Well, according to Deadline, Damian Lewis will play "the iconic actor Steve McQueen; Fanning is set as Squeaky Fromme, the Manson disciple who later tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford; Hammond will play director Sam Wanamaker; and Hirsch is Jay Sebring, the Hollywood hairstylist who was one of four victims in the Tate murders on Cielo Drive; Perry is set to play Scotty Lancer, Collins is Ernesto The Mexican Vaquero, and Keith Jefferson is Land Pirate Keith." The search for an actor to play Charles Manson continues, and Jeff Sneider‏ added on Twitter that Quentin Tarantino is also looking for an actor to play Bruce Lee. This is going to be quite the cast.

Quentin Tarantino spoke about ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD at CinemaCon (along with Leonardo DiCaprio) and spilled a few small details about the upcoming film. "It's all is very hush-hush and top secret and under wraps. So, I can't really go into any big details of the story. But, what I can tell you is that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood takes place during the Hollywood era of 1969," Tarantino said. "It takes place at the height of the counterculture explosion. It takes place at the time of the hippie revolution and it takes place at the height of new Hollywood. And, during this summer, little by little, block by block, we will be transforming Los Angeles into the psychadelic era of Hollywood in 1969 to be prepared for 2019." The director added that the film "is probably the closest to PULP FICTION I've done, as opposed to a movie that really is a Los Angeles movie and it deals with a couple of lead characters, but a lot of wild supporting characters that kind of make a blanket throughout the town."

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is set for an August 9, 2019 release.