‘Kill Bill’: Quentin Tarantino Once Wrote David Carradine’s Bill With Samuel L. Jackson in Mind
Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson have made quite the cinematic pair since they first collaborated for Pulp Fiction. In fact, Tarantino is so used to working with the actor that he sub-consciously wrote Bill from Kill Bill as Samuel L. Jackson. This presented a problem for the filmmaker since he originally had no intention of casting Jackson as his main antagonist in the first place.
Samuel L. Jackson gave off an incredible feeling of power to Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino may have considered other actors to play Jules in Pulp Fiction, but he wrote the part for Jackson. This was because he was a great admirer of The Avengers star’s work.
“I’ve also always been a fan of Sam’s. I knew he gave off an incredible feeling of power and that, if given the possibility, he could express this Richard III side of himself that he has in the film,” Tarantino told Postif (via Scraps from the Lost). “There are not a lot of actors who can dominate a scene, move people around the room like pawns in a chess game without even standing up, just sitting there. And that’s what Sam does in Pulp Fiction.”
Jackson has featured in almost all of Tarantino’s films since Pulp Fiction with only a few exceptions. This is because when Tarantino forms a connection with a talent, he prefers to re-use them in subsequent films. The reason being the aforementioned performers know how to relay Tarantino’s words.
“They can handle my dialogue; it sounds good coming out of their mouths,” he once told Entertainment Weekly. “They understand the rhythms, but also — and this is probably the most important part — they get the jokes. They know when, even when it’s not officially a joke, they know there is a laugh there. But that’s not for everybody.”
Quentin Tarantino initially couldn’t help but write his ‘Kill Bill’ villain with Samuel L. Jackson in mind
The late David Carradine ended up being the actor portraying the main antagonist for Kill Bill. Before Carradine grabbed the part, however, there were other actors he had in mind for the role. As some may know, Warren Beatty was who Tarantino originally tapped to bring Bill to life. But in the initial draft of the film, Tarantino couldn’t help but to write Bill as Samuel L. Jackson. This wasn’t intentional on Tarantino’s part, it was just out of habit.
“I definitely often write for Sam Jackson. I know his rhythms. I feel like he can turn my lines into poetry,” Tarantino once said in an interview with the New York Times. “In fact, the character of Bill in Kill Bill, when I first put pen to paper, was Sam Jackson. And finally, I had to stop it. I knew I didn’t want to cast Sam Jackson as Bill. So I had to mess with the process.”
It’s easy to see how Tarantino would make such a mistake. The filmmaker has often shared that Jackson naturally says Tarantino’s dialogue better than most.
“But then the thing that makes our relationship is just nobody says my dialogue the way Sam…Sam gets it. He’s a terrific artist. He’s a terrific actor,” Tarantino opened up on the El Rey Network.
Samuel L . Jackson once explained why he wasn’t in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’
Tarantino’s latest project, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, featured an all-star cast that included Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Jackson was noticeably absent from the film. In an interview with Cinemablend, the actor hinted that it was his Marvel obligations and a lack of communication that resulted in his absence.
“No, I’ve been doing Captain Marvel. I’m insulated. I have no idea – I just haven’t heard from him,” he explained.
