Marshalling an ensemble is something that the 46-year-old director has always excelled at, and throughout his career he has made a habit of resuscitating ailing careers – most recently, the late David Carradine in the martial arts double Kill Bill. But with his latest film, it’s Tarantino’s willingness to cast outside his Hollywood postcode that deserves praise: with Inglourious Basterds, he’s taking risks on German stars such as Til Schweiger, August Diehl and Daniel Brühl.
From this James Mottram story in London’s Independent newspaper. I find it hard to fault most of the performances in the film, actually. Save for Brad Pitt and, to a lesser extent (shockingly) Eli Roth, of course. But for the most part, I think Tarantino was pretty shrewd in the casting.
By the way, scroll down to the various comments from actors on the crew. Roth’s thoughts are the most insightful, but Pitt’s win best in show.
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6 responses to “A statement I can get behind”
I just got back from a screening of the film, and it’s such a wonderfully decadent cartoon that I couldn’t help but love it.
Remember all the problems QT faced with the casting? When he flew to Paris to offer the role to DiCaprio and was refused on the spot? When Simon Pegg dropped out? When Adam Sandler dropped out? When he couldn’t land a single 80s action star he wrote the script to salute? I suppose it all worked out for the best.
What evidence is there to suggest that DiCaprio “refused on the spot”? Q.T. decided in the end to cast a German as Landa, no?
I can’t wait to see IB on Friday. I remember a lot of QT fans were scratching their heads as the co-star list of unknown names were revealed. QT knows how to spot talent and I’m glad he took a gamble and gave these foreign actors a role in a film that will be a hit.
From what i’ve read…Sandler and Pegg wanted in…but scheduling conflicts happened… and Dicaprio wanted the role…but Tarantino refused him and felt a real German was needed.
Yeah, I’ve heard that the Sandler/Pegg dropouts were scheduele related. Pegg, at least, is a big QT fan. But I’m pretty sure DiCaprio burned QT because the film was too lowbrow for his Scorsese-affected tastes.