Welcome to another rousing edition of fan casting, where we speculate about famous actors who could have taken on major roles in some of our most beloved motion pictures. This bit of intriguing fan casting actually comes to us from director Quentin Tarantino, who usually does an incredible job finding the ideal person to play the vivid characters he writes into his scripts.
But during a recent, epic interview with CinemaBlend’s own ReelBlend podcast (which will drop, in full, on Thursday), Quentin Tarantino opened up about the three actors he had in mind to play the eponymous Bill in his vengeance thriller Kill Bill. Naturally, David Carradine was one of the choices, as the Kung Fu star eventually landed the role. But according to Tarantino, he wrote the part for Warren Beatty, and also considered Pulp Fiction star Bruce Willis for the part!
Can you actually picture that? Here’s what Quentin Tarantino told the ReelBlend podcast about his Bill casting, and looking for ways to work with Willis following Pulp Fiction:
According to Quentin Tarantino, the role of Bill as originally conceived for Warren Beatty wouldn’t have needed to be altered too drastically if Bruce Willis stepped in for Warren Beatty after it was recast. In his mind, Bill originally was more like a classic Bond villain, and the director thinks Willis could have played that. Said Tarantino:
Now that, we want to see. It breaks our hearts a tad that Tarantino and Willis didn’t figure out more ways to collaborate, as Pulp Fiction remains one of the action star’s most memorable roles. Quentin returns to old favorites like Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Leonarod DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, finding new uses for them each time. If only Willis were part of that returning ensemble.
What do you think? The director essentially told us he doesn’t want you to think of anyone but David Carradine in the role of Bill. But do you think Warren Beatty or Bruce Willis would have been better?
Come back on Thursday for our full ReelBlend conversation with Quentin Tarantino. It’s a great listen.