Quentin Tarantino returns to the big screen. However, the director of “Pulp Fiction” does not get behind the camera. Rather, he takes an unexpected turn as an actor in someone else’s film, something he very rarely does. It’s not just a cameo, as the Oscar-winning filmmaker reportedly has a significant role in director Jamie Adams’ “Only What We Carry.”
According to Deadline, Tarantino stars alongside Simon Pegg (“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”), Sofia Boutella (“The Mummy”) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Melancholia”) in “Only What We Carry”, which has already finished filming. According to the outlet, this will be Tarantino’s biggest role as an actor since his turn in Robert Rodriguez’s vampire film “From Dusk Till Dawn” in 1996. That’s a big deal. Adams had this to say about it:
“I always dreamed of shooting an Eric Rohmer-style film in Normandy, a dream that involved collaborating with an exceptional international ensemble and crew. It turns out that by embracing the freedoms of independent cinema, that dream came true. I am forever grateful to the cast and crew of Only What We Carry for this moment.”
Tarantino regularly plays smaller roles in his own films, including the 2012 hit “Django Unchained” and his feature debut “Reservoir Dogs.” But acting in someone else’s film is a completely different matter. How did Adams influence him, exactly? It’s unclear, but her other credits include “She Is Love” and “Wild Honey Pie!” Maybe Tarantino is a fan of his work?
Only What We Carry offers us Quentin Tarantino, the actor
As for what the movie is about? It’s set on the Normandy coast and is described as “a meditation on love, loss and the quiet courage it takes to move forward.” It centers on Julian Johns (Pegg), “a once-formidable instructor whose former student Charlotte Levant (Boutella) returns home to confront the ghosts of his past.” Tarantino will play John Percy, “Julian’s old friend whose sudden arrival awakens long-buried truths.”
This marks another interesting turn for Tarantino, who hasn’t directed a film since 2019’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” He was gearing up to direct “The Movie Critic” before it was shelved in early 2024. Tarantino has long said he would stop directing his tenth feature, and “The Movie Critic” would have been his last effort, if true. For now, we don’t know when he will return behind the camera and what this presumably final film will look like. But he’s finding other ways to stay busy, including writing several books and, now, acting in more meaningful ways.
Elsewhere, Tarantino also wrote the screenplay for the spin-off/sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which centers on Brad Pitt’s character Cliff Booth. David Fincher (“Seven,” “The Social Network”) directs this one. Clearly, the acclaimed filmmaker has no plans to step away from the industry, whether it’s podcasting, writing films for others, or even acting, he’s just remaining very picky about what he chooses to direct. Either way, his presence as a major player in this project is immediately worth putting on the radar.
“Only What We Carry” doesn’t have a release date yet, but stay tuned.
