As much as it rules, "Jackie Brown" has always sort of been treated like the black sheep of Quentin Tarantino's filmography. It's just not quite Tarantino's usual style — a book adaptation that lacks Tarantino's signature ultraviolent flair. The story of a flight attendant who's caught smuggling money lacks the scale and complexity of some of Tarantino's other work.
The film stars Pam Grier in her first major leading role since her time starring in blaxploitation films like "Foxy Brown" and "Coffy" in the '70s. "Jackie Brown was basically the extension of all those other characters," said Grier in a 2018 Variety interview, citing her past work's influence on her role. "Jackie Brown was an extension of having to be forceful." Along with Grier, the film starred Robert Forster, who received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a bail bondsman and Grier's love interest.
While Grier and Forster certainly weren't nobodies, "Jackie Brown" served as a sort of reinvigoration of both of their careers. Tarantino typically works with bigger stars in lead roles in his films, but the movie's modest budget made actors like Grier and Forster better choices for "Jackie Brown." Even so, Tarantino was able to secure such stars as Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro in more minor roles. In an interview on Bill Maher's podcast, Tarantino told a story about a conversation he had with a Hollywood financier about the film's cast.
Careers Revived
According to Tarantino on the podcast, he was once on an airplane asked, if "Jackie Brown" had an unlimited budget, would he have hired bigger stars to play the lead roles? At first, Tarantino seemed a bit offended by the question.
"I go, 'Well, we made $30 million dollars with a movie starring Pam Grier and Robert Forester. I thought that was pretty f**king good.' His point, though, he goes, 'That's all you,' well great! I can make a movie with them, and it can do well because I made it? That's the reason to be f**king famous."
What seemed like a loyalty to the two stars who put in such fantastic performances in his film was quickly revealed to be a bit of egomania on the part of Tarantino. Ultimately, when pushed, Tarantino did give his two actors he would have chosen to replace Grier and Forster. "Oh, yeah, It would have been Angela Bassett and Robert De Niro," said the director quickly, clearly having known the answer for a long time.
I'm really glad we got the version of the movie that we did. Grier and Forster put in career-best performances because they knew this may have been their biggest movie ever, and they needed to make the most of it. And they were successful, as both actors were brought back into the limelight after some more low-key decades. Forster remained active until his death in 2019, and Grier is still going to this day. If the two hadn't been in "Jackie Brown," I probably wouldn't know who they are, so I'm thankful for the low budget.
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The post If Jackie Brown Had An Unlimited Budget, Quentin Tarantino Knows Who He'd Cast appeared first on /Film.
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