The year was 1993. It was September and the school year had just started. Unless you were a pre-teener, chances are you were finishing high school or starting college (if you were friends with us). You were disenfranchised, angry, frustrated; the culture of complaint sweeping the zeitgeist was hitting your sweet spot and you were pissed.
Stoned, living in your parents basement or the shithole you were renting in your first year, you channeled your angst through smoking cheap weed resin and blaring Nirvana‘s latest album, In Utero, which had hit stores just a few short days earlier. Thinking to yourself, “God, these Albini (produced) drums are fucking sick,” you passed the time thumbing through the liner notes trying to make sense of the mouthful-of-marbles lyrics to “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” which you played on repeat.
Cranking up “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” to switch it up and being awed by the bass and the wickedly abrasive sounds, you noticed something in the “Thank You” notes that gave you pause. A thanks that included filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. “Huh?” you thought, initially thinking you were probably just too high.
But nope, it turns out you were right. Later you would read that Cobain was big fan of “Reservoir Dogs,” Tarantino’s feature-length debut, and the filmmaker and songwriter were mutual admirers. You’d even hear rumors that Tarantino wanted to include some Nirvana music in his films, but you could never substantiate those claims. You basically shrugged, moved on and then got older, moving to the suburbs, cutting your long hair and acquiescing to your wife’s desire to dress you in salmon-colored polo shirts and mandals.
Cut to 2011, you’re washing your car while your three year old wreaks havoc on your living room and the bills are piling up — the “why” is revealed: Cobain was supposed to play Eric Stoltz‘s part in “Pulp Fiction” according to the singer’s widowed wife. “At the same time, boy, was he excited when the scripts started coming in,” Courtney Love said of Kurt’s movie offers. “You ever wonder why he thanked Quentin [Tarantino] on the back of In Utero? Quentin asked him to play Eric Stoltz’s part in Pulp Fiction. You can ask Quentin that, because it’s true” (cue someone asking Quentin).
Who knew? Bonus extra credit: While he’s surely too old for the part now, Love says Brad Pitt “wanted to play Kurt, by the way.” [GQ via Vulture]