CANNES – Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” had a paparazzi-worthy reception last night with many highlighting it as his best film since “Kill Bill.” After a night of celebrating, Tarantino was joined by his stars Margot Robbie, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt for the official Cannes press conference. And it’s not every day you have two of the world’s biggest movie stars sitting on a dais together.
“There were incredible ease and comfort getting to work alongside Brad,” DiCaprio says. “We kind of grew up in the generation, got our start around the same time. And, to be honest, Quentin gave us this incredible back story for our characters. He literally came to us with a bible of their work together, their friendship together, what they have been through the industry, how they are now on the outskirts in this new era of Hollywood. And all that sort of fed into this immediate comfort and ease that think he and I had with each other. I mean, look, Brad not only a terrific actor, but he’s also a professional. So, when Quentin puts you in these improvised scenarios and we both sort of have a great foothold on our history and our characters I have to say it was incredibly easy. Incredibly easy working with Brad and I think we forged a great cinematic bond in a film about our industry together.”
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“I had a great laugh with him,” Pitt adds. “It’s that thing knowing you have the best of the best on the opposite side of the table holding up the scene with you. There is a great relief in that. As Leo said, We have the same reference points. We have been going through this at the same time. Similar experiences to laugh about it. I hope we do it again, it was great fun.”
“Once Upon” centers on Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Pitt) as they navigate a changing Hollywood in 1969. Dalton is a former TV star trying to keep his career from collapsing and Booth is his longtime stunt double who finds himself more of a chauffeur these days. When we learn Rick Dalton’s Hollywood Hills home is next door to the home Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate (Robbie) are renting the movie truly begins its Hollywood fairy tale.
When asked if Tarantino had reached out to the now 85-year-old Polanski about the project he replied with an immediate, “No, I did not.” He eventually adds, “I’ve met him a couple of times. [Rick refers] to him as the hottest filmmaker alive. It was almost unfathomable how much ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ made in its day. I’m a fan of Roman Polanski’s work, but especially Rosemary’s Baby, I liked that a lot.”
Margot also did not reach out to the exiled filmmaker but did her own research when it came to playing such as sensitive role.
She adds, “I supposed I did a lot of research and watched everything I could to try and understand what her character serves to the story. Why is this character in the story?. To me, Quentin said she’s the heartbeat of the story and I saw her as a ray of light. I wanted her to be light and that was my job to serve in this story. I applied to myself. I thought I could honor the memory of the real life Sharon Tate.”
There was some levity to the conversation. When DiCaprio was asked whether he thought Dalton was a good actor he quipped, “Hell yeah, Rick Dalton is a great actor.” lLaughs]
He then segues adding, “But to talk about Quentin’s very unique process. There are very few people in this world that have the collective knowledge about not only cinematic history but music and television. It’s almost like taping into a computer database. The wealth of knowledge is unfathomable and it keeps coming and coming. I really think this movie is his love story to his industry. And he’s put at the helm of it two kind of characters who are outsiders. The ’60s have come along and this industry has sort of passed them, but I think all of us at this table at one time felt like outsiders in the industry. It’s really a love letter to the outsiders of the industry. It’s a film about coming home. It’s a love letter to this industry we’re so fortunate to work in.”
“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” opens nationwide on July 26.
