Sylvester Stallone and Quentin Tarantino (cordonpress images)
Any actor should be thrilled to be in a Quentin Tarantino movie, but not Sylvester Stallone, and he has his reasons.
Sylvester Stallone, renowned actor and star of legendary sagas like Rambo and Rocky, has turned down the opportunity to work with acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino twice. Although the collaboration between the two seemed promising, Stallone made the decision not to accept the roles Tarantino offered him in Jackie Brown (1997) and Death Proof (2007). But why?
First you have to remember that he was able to give life to Louis Gara in Jackie Brown. The role ended up going to Robert De Niro. He too passed on from Mike McKay in Death Proof, the role of the deranged stuntman ending up going to Kurt Russell.
The reason behind Sylvester Stallone’s refusal to participate in Death Proof lies in the violent premise of the film. The actor mentioned in the interview, “There is no way. I have two daughters and this guy has a hobby of putting teenagers in his car and smashing them into a wall. That’s not going to work.” Although he is known for his action-packed and violent roles, he felt that Death Proof’s theme was too far removed from his personal principles.
Sylvester Stallone in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
There is too much difference in what they both understand by show.
The disparity in terms of the depiction of violence has also manifested itself in the Rambo franchise. Since the actor revealed that Tarantino had some criticism of the movie First Blood (1982). Especially since the director considered that Rambo should have died at the end, following the line of the original novel by David Morrell. However, Sylvester Stallone chose to push the character to the limit without it being the end of him, as he had plans to make sequels. This is how he explained it to the director: “Quentin, you are a lunatic. I want to do some sequels, bro.”
So the difference in the representation of violence and the lack of alignment between his personal principles and the theme of Tarantino’s films have been the main reasons behind Sylvester Stallone’s refusals. Although fans may have expected a collaboration between the two, it seems unlikely that this will happen, especially considering Tarantino’s future plans and his decision to retire after his tenth film. His latest project will be titled The Movie Critic and for now there are no actors hired, but it sure has an impressive cast.
Quentin Tarantino
