[ad_1]
They say never meet your idols. But for Quentin Tarantino, it was impossible not to. In 1995, the director’s name was on everyone’s lips, largely thanks to the success of 1992 Reservoir Dogs, which premiered at that year’s Sundance Film Festival and quickly became the most talked about film of the season. Suddenly, Tarantino was approached to do everything Speed For men in black, which he refused. What he really wanted to do was hide out and work on his next movie, Pulp Fiction.
The 1994 pic earned Tarantino Oscar nominations for “Best Picture” and “Best Director”, securing him the Oscar for “Best Original Screenplay” and the coveted Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. , he was in the big leagues, rubbing shoulders with some of the most famous directors in the world, including the great Martin Scorsese.
Tarantino and Scorsese first met in 1995, by which time Marty had started work on his epic crime drama Casino, with Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, Don Rickles, Kevin Pollak and James Woods. It tells the story of Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein, a young mobster recruited to run his boss’s illegal casino, Tangier. As his relationship with his hot-headed enforcer Nicky Sontoro, his ex-wife Ginger, and the corrupt politicians who frequent the casino grow ever more strained, Sam is increasingly in danger.
“I was doing a movie in Vegas, and it turned out that, during that time, Martin Scorsese was doing Casino“recalls Tarantino [quotes via Outstanding Screenplays]. “And I had never really met Martin Scorsese before. And so I received an invitation to visit the set of Casino.“
Tarantino could barely contain his excitement. “It’s right up there with the gates of Oz opening,” he recalls thinking, “and I’m going to meet the wizard.” But before he could shake hands with Scorsese, Tarantino found himself up against Don Rickles, who had been hired to play Billy Sherbert, the head of security at the Casino de Tangier.
“So I walk to meet the wizard, I walk on set, they kind of see me, and then Don Rickles says, ‘Quentin, thank God you’re here. This guy [Scorsese] doesn’t know what he’s doing at all. Thank goodness a real director has finally arrived – this cat is beside himself. Please save – this is a disaster. It is a disaster! – please save us from this sinking. You are a talented man. We need your talent.
Mortified, Tarantino turned to see the entire cast and crew in a fit of hysterics. “Marty laughs; the crew laughs; De Niro laughs. [But] I want to hide under the rug. And that’s how Quentin Tarantino was introduced to Martin Scorsese.
