Even from his first round of interviews promoting “Reservoir Dogs,” Quentin Tarantino has always concerned himself with the grand overview of his career, adding layer upon referential layer to his world-building while talking up spinoffs galore. However, with his slavery western “Django Unchained” right around the corner — and featuring its share of trilogy hints itself — the director has spoken up about the end of his filmmaking career, as well as a number of insights into his latest bold effort.
‘Django’ has stormed the holiday movie season on the back of promising early reaction as well as both the stellar box-office and critical reception from “Inglourious Basterds,” but as Tarantino explains in a new Playboy interview, he can predict the success waning. “I just don’t want to be an old-man filmmaker. I want to stop at a certain point,” he said. “Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film fucks up three good ones.”
Continuing his string of cinematic equations, he added, “You stop when you stop, but in a fanciful world, 10 movies in my filmography would be nice. I’ve made seven. If I have a change of heart, if I come up with a new story, I could come back. But if I stop at 10, that would be okay as an artistic statement.” Perhaps having grown more reflective while assembling his retrospective Blu-ray box set, one aspect that does remain fresh in his mind is the casting process for ‘Django.’ Aside from circling Will Smith, a move which Tarantino half-acknowledges “was an excuse for us to hang out and spend time with one another,” the filmmaker also revealed he had quite a rigorous process planned to find his lead before Jamie Foxx was eventually selected.
“I met six different actors and had extensive meetings with all of them, and I went in-depth on all of their work,” he explained. “Idris Elba, Chris Tucker, Terrence Howard, M.K. Williams, Tyrese. They all appreciated the material, and I was going to put them through the paces, make them go off against one another and kind of put up an obstacle course. And then I met Jamie and realized I didn’t need to do that.”
Claiming that the Texas-bred Foxx “understood what it’s like to be thought of as an ‘other,’” Tarantino expounds much more about his promising lead in the full interview piece (which hits stands Nov. 20th), where you can also read his thoughts on Leonardo DiCaprio, his ideal wife, and getting high while writing. [EW]