25 Shocking Secrets About Pulp Fiction Revealed

1. Michael Madsen, who had antecedently worked with his adjacent person Tarantino connected Reservoir Dogs, was approached to play Vince but chose to prima successful Wyatt Earp instead. "It was similar 3 hours of nausea," Madsen later recalled. Tarantino was wounded by his friend's prime and the brace didn't talk for years earlier Tarantino formed Madsen successful Kill Bill Vol. 2.

2. Producers pushed for a large bankable prima like Daniel Day-Lewis or Bruce Willis for the role, arsenic John Travolta was "at that clip arsenic acold arsenic they get," Mike Simpson, Tarantino's agent, told Vanity Fair. "He was little than zero." But Tarantino wouldn't budge aft gathering with Travolta and aft a batch of negotiating, helium got his way.

3. After Travolta's woody closed, Willis landed the relation of Butch, which was initially promised to Matt Dillon, per Vanity Fair. "Bruce Willis made america legit. Reservoir Dogs did fantastic internationally, truthful everyone was waiting for my caller movie," Tarantino told VF. "And past erstwhile it was my caller movie with Bruce Willis, they went apes--t."

4. Winston Rolfe was written specifically for Harvey Keitel, with Tarantino erstwhile saying, "Harvey had been my favourite histrion since I was 16 years old." And Tim Roth, different Reservoir Dogs star, was Tarantino's lone prime for Pumpkin, with the relation written with him successful mind.

5. While Tarantino had told Samuel L. Jackson the relation of hitman Jules Winnfield was already his, the curse-loving histrion was thrown for a loop erstwhile helium learned helium would really person to audition aft Paul Calderon had earnestly impressed the manager and producers with his read.

"I benignant of  was angry, pissed, tired," Jackson said of going successful to work against Calderon, adding helium adjacent stopped to prime up a accelerated nutrient burger to bring with him during his audition. "He walked successful and conscionable started sipping that shingle and biting that burger and looking astatine each of us," producer Richard Gladstein recalled. "I was frightened s--tless. I thought that this feline was going to sprout a weapon close done my head. His eyes were popping retired of his head. And helium conscionable stole the part."

6. This mightiness beryllium different crushed Jackson was truthful damn pissed successful his audition: When idiosyncratic came to bring him in, they said, "'I emotion your work, Mr. Fishburne,'" according to Jackson. "It was similar a dilatory burn. He doesn't cognize who I am? I was benignant of like, f--k it. At that constituent I truly didn't care."

7. Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Holly Hunter and Rosanna Arquette were each reportedly considered for the relation of Mia Wallace, the sexy and drug-addicted woman of the burly transgression boss. But Tarantino had decided connected Uma Thurman instantly aft their archetypal meeting. "Uma's the lone idiosyncratic helium met with [by himself]," shaper Lawrence Bender told Vanity Fair.

8. Less sure, however, was the young prima herself. "I wasn't definite I wanted to beryllium successful the movie. I was 23, from Massachusetts," Thurman told VF, admitting she recovered the script "pretty frightening." 

9. According to Jackson, the relation of Marsellus Wallace was initially acceptable to beryllium played by The Mack star Max Julien, but the histrion passed connected the publication aft learning astir the anal rape scene. "Max Julien wasn't going to bash that," Jackson told Vanity Fair. "He's the Mack*.* He's Goldie. He's like, ‘No, I don't deliberation my fans privation to spot that.'"

10. But the arguable country didn't scare disconnected Ving Rhames, who said, "Because of the mode I look, I don't ever get the accidental to play galore susceptible people." helium has said. Tarantino told VF, "He was precise unsocial successful his unconcern. It was a sheer people of his masculinity."

11. Given his creation background, adjacent winning a twist contention erstwhile helium was 8, Travolta took the pb successful Vincent and Mia's iconic creation series (and won the MTV Movie Award for "Best Dance Sequence.")

While Tarantino had conscionable envisioned the twist, Travolta recalled telling his director, "'You whitethorn adhd different novelty dances that were precise peculiar successful the day.' He said, ‘What bash you mean?' I said, 'There was the Batman, the Hitchhiker, the Swim, arsenic good arsenic the Twist.' And I showed them to him, and helium loved them. I said, 'I'll thatch Uma the steps, and erstwhile you privation to spot a antithetic step, telephone it out.'" And that's however the film's historical country came to be.

12. But the infamous country was really the 1 Thurman was the astir tense astir anterior to filming it, she told Vanity Fair, "because I was truthful awkward and embarrassed and shy."

13. While it's astir unheard of successful Hollywood, each histrion earned the aforesaid magnitude for their enactment connected the film, each agreeing to enactment for $20,000 per week (though they besides shared a percent of the film's container bureau take). 

14. The 1964 Chevy Malibu Vincent drives successful the movie really belonged to Tarantino...and it was stolen aft accumulation wrapped. Almost 20 years later, the car was recovered successful Oakland, Calif., successful 2013. 

15. The nail polish Mia wears successful the movie is Chanel's famed Rouge Noir, with the film's popularity causing the vampy red-black to instantly merchantability retired arsenic soon arsenic it deed shelves successful 1995.

16. Vincent and Jules' iconic achromatic suits were Tarantino's vision, but each histrion enactment their ain sartorial people connected their respective characters. For Travolta that meant adding extensions to his hairsbreadth to execute a "Euro haircut, which is sometimes Eurotrash and sometimes elegant," helium explained. "Tarantino was hesitant, and I said, 'Please astatine slightest look astatine maine successful this,' and I got the hairsbreadth extensions and I worked connected the do. I enactment my champion ft guardant connected the test. That conscionable killed it."

17. Jackson grew muttonchops for the relation of Jules, but helium was primitively acceptable to person an afro. "A accumulation adjunct Quentin sent to southbound L.A. to bargain an Afro wig had nary thought what that was," the prima told Vanity Fair, adding that she came backmost with the Jheri-curl wig. While Tarantino initially rejected it, Jackson convinced him it was the close look. 

18. When it came to filming Mia's overdose, Thurman revealed what was utilized arsenic a substitute for the spittle successful her mouth: Campbell's mushroom soup. However, the prima didn't request immoderate assistance erstwhile it came to the crazed reaction. "I worked myself up, acting," she told VF. "I don't deliberation we enactment thing successful my eyes. You're paid for something." 

19. The film's wrapper enactment was held connected the acceptable accumulation built for Jack Rabbit Slim's diner, with 1 dancing duo taking implicit the creation floor: Travolta and Christopher Walken, with co-star Eric Stoltz recalling, "Somebody said, 'They should bash a philharmonic together.'" In 2007, they starred unneurotic successful Hairspray arsenic a joined couple. 

20. When they archetypal met, Tarantino was surviving successful what was Travolta's archetypal flat successful Los Angeles. 

21. Vick Vega (a.k.a. Mr. Blonde) successful Reservoir Dogs (played by Michael Madsen) is really the member of Travolta's Pulp Fiction character, with Tarantino erstwhile conceiving of a spinoff (Vega Brothers) that would service arsenic a prequel to some films. 

22. Made for conscionable $8 million, the biggest disbursal of the movie didn't spell toward the star-studded cast, but to creating the Jack Slim's Diner set, which outgo $150,000. (Travolta earned $140,000 for his 7 weeks of work.) 

23. When Tarantino and his penning partner Roger Avary won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (the lone 1 the movie would triumph retired of its 7 nominations), the telecast accidentally chopped to black—a gaffe Avary aboriginal took recognition for. 

"I paid disconnected a cameraman 500 bucks to person the camera turned disconnected connected Quentin erstwhile they announced the award," Avary revealed to Vanity Fair, wanting to propulsion 1 implicit connected his prank-loving aged friend. "So if you ticker it online, you'll spot it cuts to achromatic briefly, and past they chopped to me. Gotcha."

24. For the notorious "Gimp" scene, Tarantino intended to usage The Knack's deed opus "My Sharona." However, different 1994 movie had already acquired it: Reality Bites.

Instead, helium chose The Revel's "Comache," and Tarantino yet was grateful helium didn't get his archetypal choice, telling Rolling Stone, "It would person been excessively cutely comic. I similar utilizing worldly for comic effect, but I don't privation it to beryllium har, har, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, you know?"

25. More than 20 years aft the film's release, an alleged casting privation database written by Tarantino was leaked online, which revealed Gary Oldman was considered for each the large parts, while Johnny Depp and Christian Slater were back-up choices for Pumpkin if Rothman was unavailable.

While Stoltz landed the relation of Lance, it was written with John Cusack successful mind, and if the apical prime for Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) hadn't been available, Patricia Arquette was his apical pick. She would yet onshore the relation of Jody.