As controversy and conjecture (among those who haven’t read his screenplay yet, mind you) lay the ground for a scenario wherein Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood destroys the thinkpiece industry, Film Twitter, and everything in their immediate, terrible vicinity, the writer-director’s been busy transforming Tinseltown for his late-60s drama centered on a TV actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and stuntman buddy’s (Brad Pitt) attempt to enter the studio system, all the while living next door to Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski in the summer of 1969. Fittingly for his depiction of an era in which casts overflowed with big names and bit players, the ensemble is immense.
The recent headline-making additions are such: Maya Hawke, daughter of Ethan and Uma Thurman, as a fictional character, Flower Child (and a casting choice about which those who crucified Tarantino over the horrifying Kill Bill: Vol. 2 incident remain quiet, unsurprisingly); Lena Dunham as Manson member Catherine Louise “Gypsy” Share and bringer of skull-grinding discourse; Rumer Willis (another one-generation-removed reunion), Dreama Walker, Margaret Qualley, Costa Ronin, Victoria Pedretti, and Madisen Beaty in unspecified parts; Austin Butler as Manson member Charles “Tex” Watson; and Lorenza Izzo as “Francesa Capucci, a glamorous Italian movie star.” [EW]
Then the really fun stuff: filling roles as (deep breath, eyes closed) Charles Manson and Roman Polanski, respectively, are Damon Herriman (Justified) and Rafal Zawierucha, who range from entirely unknown to less-than-famous — picks that raise more questions than answers about what Tarantino’s going for, tone-wise. (Make of it what you will that he’s cast them a bit late into the game.) We’ve got a long while to find out, and something tells me the wait will be worthwhile.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will open on July 26, 2019.