When Quentin Tarantino rejected Johnny Depp's casting in 'Pulp Fiction'
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Quentin Tarantino recently revealed that he rejected the demands of his producer to include Johnny Depp in his iconic 1994 film 'Pulp Fiction'.
Quentin Tarantino is one of the world's most unique filmmakers with an almost flawless filmography—wholly without a bad entry. He is also known for his blunt thoughts regarding every aspect of filmmaking. He recently revealed that he rejected the demands of his producer to include Johnny Depp in his iconic 1994 film 'Pulp Fiction'. The crime drama, if you do not know already, turned Tarantino into a world-renowned director. Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman, the film told intertwined stories of crime in Los Angeles. To date, it remains one of the best movies from the director—if not the best.
While speaking to Tom Segura on his podcast, 2 Bears, 1 Cave, Tarantino revealed that he had created a list of potential actors to play the main roles. For the role of Ringo or Pumpkin (which Tim Roth went on to portray), the movie's producer Mike Medavoy was unsure of Roth in the role and wanted Depp instead. Tarantino asked him, "Do you think Johnny Depp playing the role of Pumpkin in this movie, which is the opening scene and the closing scene, that’s it, do you think that will add that much to the box office?"
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In the early 1990s, Depp had become known as both a talented actor and a bankable film star. Of course, in the 2010s, he would establish himself as one of the world's top actors.
The film pleased critics, earning an impressive score of 92 per cent on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads, "One of the most influential films of the 1990s, Pulp Fiction is a delirious post-modern mix of neo-noir thrills, pitch-black humor, and pop-culture touchstones."