Kill Billalmost cast Bruce Willis as Bill. Quentin Tarantino revealed the news in a recent interview. The director has talked about the Uma Thurman-starring movie quite a bit over the past year. While doing press forOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, the director mentioned more than once that he is considering making a sequel to finish a possible trilogy. Tarantino has also said that he plans on retiring after making a tenth and final movie, which may or may not even happen.
When talking aboutKill Bill, it’s hard not to think ofDavid Carradine in the role of Bill. The actor nailed the part, though it was originally written for Warren Beatty. Quentin Tarantino has talked about originally writing the role for Beatty more than once over the years, but he just revealed that Bruce Willis was also in the running. Tarantino explains.
“I think John Travolta is a fantastic actor. I thinkBruce Willisis a fantastic actor. Harvey Keitel is an amazing actor. [But] I’ve yet to write a character from the 2000s on that I thought that they were the perfect person to do it. I mean, frankly, the closest would have been Bruce. Because I wrote [the character of] Bill for Warren Beatty and it ended up not working out. And then I cast David Carradine, and kind of rewrote it for David Carradine. Bruce would have been my third choice… When I read the original version of Kill Bill, it kind of cracks me up now, because it’s the Warren Beatty version.”
Bruce Willis would have been an interesting choice, especially sinceQuentin Tarantinosays he had to do some rewriting for David Carradine when he stepped in to play Bill inKill Bill. As it turns out, Warren Beatty and Willis may have more in common that anyone thought. This is at least how Tarantino sees things. He had this to say about Willis taking on the role instead of Beatty.
“When I look at that original version, you know, Bill was a little bit more of an evil JamesBondtype. Okay? Rather than the Bondian villain, he was more like an evil bond. And he kind of had this, he had a Warren Beatty kind of quality about him. And frankly, to tell you the truth, I probably wouldn’t had to have rewritten it that much if I had cast Bruce in it. Bruce could have actually played that evil James Bond kind of character and I would have just leaned into his personality maybe just a little bit more. A little less Cristal. A little bit more Coors, all right. A little less champagne, a little more beer.”
One can easily see Bruce Willis as aBond-type of villain, especially written by Quentin Tarantino. Regardless, the director provides some interesting insight into working with Willis and how his personality compares to Warren Beatty. Additionally, it’s also interesting to think about howKill Billwould have been different with either actor taking on the role. With all of this praise for Willis, one would imagine that he and Tarantino will work together again.
Quentin Tarantino seems to be second guessing some of the public comments he’s made over the past year. The R-ratedStar Trekproject he was developing seems to have hit the skids and he seems to be thinking about more movies after his tenth. As for what his next movie will be about, the director doesn’t have a plan at this time, though he has a finished play and five episodes of the fictional Bounty Law TV series fromOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodready to roll. He also saysKill Bill 3 is definitely in the cards. The interview with Quentin Tarantino was originally conducted byCInemaBlend.
