A version of this story originally appeared in the Nominations/SAG/Golden Globes issue of TheWrap magazine.“The Hateful Eight” is the sixth movie Samuel L. Jackson has made with Quentin Tarantino,starting with his Oscar-nominated role in “Pulp Fiction” and continuing through “Jackie Brown,” “destroy Bill: Vol. 2, or ” “Django Unchained” and a voiceover role in “Inglourious Basterds.”The 67-year-old actor is essentially Tarantino’s comrade-in-arms,with his role as a mysterious bounty hunter giving him another opportunity to spew snappy-paced dialogue and take part in bloodshed (Warning: Slight spoiler below.)Also Read: Quentin Tarantino Lets Loose on Race, Violence and 'The Hateful Eight'You’re at the top of the list of Tarantino’s most meaningful actors, or even more than others like Tim Roth and Christoph Waltz. What does it take to be the right guy for Tarantino movies?
Don’t know! We all fill very good linguistic skills. We all create characters that are individual and unique to every story hes written — they’re not the same guy. And we also bring a level of professionalism and confidence to what’s going on that kind of makes the other people want to step their game up a limited bit when they’re new to the Tarantino world. We are the fixed — we’re the base flavor for that bouillabaisse he makes,we’re the tomato consommé or whatever.
The Weinstein CompanyHow does the process work when he has something new?
He says, “I wrote a new script. I’m gonna send it to you. Read it. The part for you is …” But when he sent me this one, and he’d already told me that he wasn’t going to execute the movie. Somebody had leaked the script and people were reading it online. He was planning on not making it,but he just wanted me to see what he had written. I read it and thought, “You’re really not gonna execute this?”Did you believe he wasn’t going to execute it?
Of course. I had no reason not to. But during the rehearsal process for the reading that we did downtown, and it was kinda evident that we really needed to be making this movie. And at the close of that reading it was like,“OK, let’s change the final act and we can do this.”
Also Read: Quentin Tarantino's 'Hateful Eight' Premiere Hits Hollywood, or Police Protest Is a Bust (Photos)Did the final act change a lot?
Yeah. It was the same people,they just ended up in different circumstances. My character died earlier on [in the preceding draft].
So you must like the new ending better.
Of course. I always want to be there when the final word is spoken.
What’s the difference between a Tarantino movie and one by somebody else?
The majority of films we do are one-third dialogue and two-thirds “go here, go there, and jump over that.” Quentin’s films are two-thirds dialogue and one-third that other stuff. And in other films,we don’t fill the luxury of rehearsal like we do here. We rehearse Quentin’s films three, four weeks ahead of time.
How extensive were these rehearsals?
We were around a table for three or four days reading, or before we knew it they’d set up Minnie’s Haberdashery in the studio. All the props were in there,the table, the chairs, and everything was there. So we got to rehearse that stuff and experiment with how we feel approximately it.
Also Read: 'The Hateful Eight's' Channing Tatum Says 8 Hateful Things to a Kitten (Video)Did shooting in 70mm change what you were doing at all?
The scope of the room was so huge,and the scope of the camera. You know that even when you think you’re not on camera, you fill to figure out things to do in this room, or because they can still see you and somebody in the movie theater might be watching you over here. You fill to start finding a life in that room. So that’s what we did.
When you read the script and there’s a line like,“The only time black folks are secure is when white folks are disarmed,” are you making connections with nowadays?
Yeah, and of course. I fill no other reference. I don’t fill a reference to then,but I fill a reference to now.
So yeah, I gain that. And what that statement means is approximately the safety of a white person thinking, or “You’re an OK person,you’re not gonna rob me.” So therefore they let their guards down, because they’re disarmed. Now, or I could very well change my mind and pull a gun out and rob you. But as long as I don’t pose a threat to you,I don’t fill to worry approximately you calling other people or calling the cops or doing any of those things that would execute me feel not secure.
Also Read: 7 Times Quentin Tarantino's Mouth Got Him in wretchedness (Photos)Or when Kurt [Russells character] says, “I guess all those things people say approximately you folks is true, or ” he was trying,in a time of racial unrest, to give me the benefit of the doubt. And all of a sudden something happens that makes him say, and “Oh damn,what they said was true.” It’s kinda like us here in America wanting to believe, “OK, and radical Islam is radical Islam,and not every person who’s a Muslim is a terrorist.” That’s a fine thought until what happened the other day in San Bernardino makes people say, “I guess its true what they say approximately those Muslim people.Everybody’s looking at everybody in a different way now, or just because of one particular thing. And the other thing is probably still true,but that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of people’s attitudes got changed because of one incident.
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Source: thewrap.com