Eli Roth In, Leonardo DiCaprio Out of 'Inglorious Bastards'
Filed under: Action, Drama, Casting, Universal, The Weinstein Co., Newsstand, Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino, War
Now this is the kind of offbeat casting you expect out of Quentin Tarantino -- except that, really, it's not that unusual for him to cast his pals, so it makes a guy like Leonardo DiCaprio an edgier pick. Oh, that crazy Tarantino!According to Variety, Eli Roth is set to play Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, "a baseball bat swinging Nazi hunter" in Tarantino's already much-discussed Inglorious Bastards. Brad Pitt is still "in talks" for Aldo Raine, but it would be a shocker if it wasn't official. Pitt and Roth, together at last, the pair-up the world never knew it wanted.
DiCaprio has gone from "in talks" to "eliminated." He was being considered for the part of SS Col Hans Landa, but Tarantino has decided that part should be played by a real live German. This is probably a good idea, as the last thing any film needs is a wonky accent. I do find it funny that when it comes to accuracy, this is one movie that is determined to have a real German, as opposed to the dozens of films that ignore portraying race, ethnicity, and culture!
The cast is expected to be formalized shortly, and filming to begin in Europe this fall. Given that Tarantino is looking to his friends to fill the empty slots, I am still betting Tim Roth and Michael Madsen will pop up somewhere. Who else do you expect to pop up in Bastards, readers? And what do you think of Roth's addition?
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Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Oh good, an Oscar nominated actor being eliminated while a director is cast in an acting role.
For me Roth's role in "Death Proof" was a little distracting, just like Tarantino's role in, well, anything. It's kind of frustrating when directors suddenly decide they're going to start working infront of the camera instead of behind. In low budget productions it's understandable, like Roth in "Cabin Fever" or Smith in "Clerks", but "Inglorious Bastards" has no need for such a thing.
For the most part when you pick a career, that's pretty much what you do and there's no stepping into other people's shoes. A web programmer for this site shouldn't start posting blogs just because he's seen a bunch of them before and presumes to know what he's doing. Of course, there will always be exceptions but for the most part, stick to what you know.
Posted at 10:20AM on Aug 6th 2008 by b0ring
3. I'd like to know who did the asking here. Did Tarantino plead with Eli Roth to play the role or was Roth begging for something to do?
Posted at 11:04AM on Aug 6th 2008 by Peter Hall
4. I would liked to have seen DiCaprio in a Tarantino flick, but I can see how casting a real German might be more threatening than DiCaprio.
I usually trust Tarantino's casting choices, but Eli Roth?! Again?! His acting is terrible and even though I think his films stink, he's still a director, not an actor. There's no need for Roth to be in (what its being hyped to be) Tarantino's best script.
Posted at 2:34PM on Aug 6th 2008 by E-Rock
1. having read the script, i'd say that roth is ok, though not physically what's described (donowitz is meant to be much bigger). also, there's a part in there that i could all-but guarantee will go to uma thurman
Posted at 9:15AM on Aug 6th 2008 by harry