The Poster Memorabilia blog

Meeting Tarantino's Best Cast to Date

A New York junket, six signatures, and the director himself giving one fan a hard time.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Hot take: Django Unchained has the best cast in any Quentin Tarantino film. Better than Pulp Fiction, better than Kill Bill, better than Inglourious Basterds, and even better than Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And some of these have legends in them, but I said what I said. Tarantino really popped off in Django Unchained.

I mean, come on! Look at that cast! Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, and Walton Goggins? It doesn't get any better than that. And even with a touchy subject like slavery, the performances knocked it out of the park. It's no wonder it earned a ton of awards.

I didn't even need to see the movie to know it was gonna be a hit. I took a look at that cast and instantly knew it was gonna blow everyone away. Tarantino is the one in charge, first of all, and he's collaborating with Samuel L. Jackson again. Every time these two get together for a film, it's always a masterpiece.

“Tarantino really popped off in Django Unchained.”

When you add Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, and Christoph Waltz into the mix, you know it'll be a doozy. And it was! Django Unchained is still my favorite Tarantino movie, and I've loved everything he's put out since. You can't just replace that cast, that story, and all that action. Everything just meshed well together.

So when I said that I didn't need to see the movie to know it was gonna be a hit, I meant it! This is also because I got to see the cast in person before I saw the film. They appeared at a press junket at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City, and my journalist friend brought me along as her assistant for the day.

The movie had already premiered by then, but I couldn't go because of prior commitments. But when my friend told me she needed a hand at this press event, I jumped at the chance and brought my movie poster along with her recorder and notes.

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Practically everyone was there, especially all the big names I've already mentioned. And my friend, bless her, made a habit of it: every time she wrapped an interview with a cast member, she'd introduce me as the world's biggest Django fan carrying a poster, and I'd sheepishly ask them to sign it.

I felt like a total fanboy doing it in a room full of working press, but no one seemed to mind. These celebrities were used to giving their autographs anyway, so I doubt they were troubled by it. Some of them, like Jackson and Foxx, were even in high spirits as they signed the poster.

The one who gave me a hard time, in the best way, was Tarantino himself. He looked at the poster, then at me, then at my friend, and asked what exactly my job was supposed to be. I froze. Then he laughed, took the pen, and signed it anyway. For a second there, I really thought he had me!

Anyway, meeting them that day convinced me to see the film later on, and just as I expected, it was great. I even felt prouder that I got to meet them in person and get their autographs since they were all so good in the movie.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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