Fun trivia: Leigh was supposed to play alongside Tarantino on Broadway back in the 90s! The stage play was "Wait Until Dark" (there's also a movie with Audrey Hepburn based on it), Jennifer even got the role, but had to back out because of timing conflicts. She discusses it in this lovely 1997 interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgAFrM4Sf18.
shareI still haven't finished watching this interview. That is such an interesting fact!! Would've been interesting to see it. Never knew Tarantino was on Broadway either!
shareThank you so much for the link. Never watched it before. She's so genuine, sweet and beautiful here. Charlie Rose always gives really sincere interview with Jennifer and I feel he admires her talent too. Shame about Wait Until Dark. eXistenZ also made Eyes Wide Shut wiped out but personally I'm glad she chose eXistenZ.
shareForgot to mention, I love Washington Square (not A Thousand Acres) and her acting in it so was nice to watch from that point of view too!
shareTotally agree! "eXistenZ" is such a special movie, both for JJL herself and her fans, and on an artistical level. Seems like, Leigh sacrificed so much to make it and then it changed the pace of her career so drastically, I wish "eXistenZ" was more popular. "Washington Square" is a darling film! I watched "A 1000 Acres" only once, didn't really care about it, but I get why Leigh chose to take part - it's the company of greats like Lange, Pfeiffer and Jason Robards, the "Jason" of her name:)
shareHere's New York Magazine Review of the show. Marisa Tomei played the part eventually.
http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/reviews/2535/
"The real disaster is Quentin Tarantino. This ludicrously overrated copycat director gives a nonperformance to temper the ardor of his most slavish fans. The video store, where Tarantino has acquired his entire education, can teach you to become a flash-in-the-pan director but not, alas, an actor. His chief heavy, Roat, floats like a pothead and stings like a flea."
SOMEBODY SURE HAD A STRONG OPINION.
I'm impressed with how much of a fan he is of JJL. When she talked about working on The Hateful Eight, she said: "He knew more about my career than I did – he was quoting things that I’d done forever ago as if they were yesterday."
Source: https://www.pearlanddean.com/node/2488357