Quentin Tarantino Recruited Kurt Russell For Death Proof By Being A Giant Nerd
"Death Proof" is usually ranked lowest among Quentin Tarantino's directorial efforts, which is a shame since newbies might take that to mean it's not worth seeking out. (It absolutely is.) A 1970s exploitation homage initially released as part of his and Robert Rodriguez's failed 2007 "Grindhouse" double-feature experiment ("failed" in the sense that it bombed at the box office; its cultural cache has only grown over time, with its fake trailers for "Hobo with a Shotgun" and "Thanksgiving" giving rise to actual films), the movie lends Tarantino's distinctive banter to a slasher about an over-the-hill stunt double, dubbed "Stuntman" Mike (Kurt Russell), who slays his victims using a rigged stunt vehicle.
"Death Proof" abides by the expectations of its genre for its first half, following Mike as he hunts his prey, not by stalking them under the cover of night but by schmoozing them up at a bar and cunningly striking when their defenses are down (but their blood-alcohol levels are up). It's only in its second half that the film stealthily — and swiftly — evolves into a women's empowerment story by way of a revenge thriller, complete with a third act stacked with deadly practical car stunts. Imagine if the original "Halloween" had ended with Laurie Strode barely escaping with her life, only to dust herself off and run down Michael Myers in a muscle car.
Tarantino's "Grindhouse" segment is also probably the nerdiest creation — and I mean that as a compliment, by the way — of his career, which is part of why casual audiences didn't flock to it the way they had his other genre pastiches. (That and they just didn't share his affections for the Grindhouse experience.) Conversely, it was that precise nerdiness that convinced Russell to join forces with Tarantino in the first place.
Tarantino wanted Russell's gravitas for Death Proof
"[...] Obviously, when Quentin Tarantino gives you a call and wants you to work in his movie, your interest is immediately spiked," said the actor, speaking to The Quentin Tarantino Archives near the time of the film's release in 2007. He added:
"When he shows you that he knows everything about your career, everything you've ever done, you realize his level of knowledge is extraordinary. And then when you hear about what he wants to do, and his level of expertise and excitement about doing it are equal, you really figure 'I have to do this. I have to know what this is like.'"
Likewise, whenever Russell stars in a project, he brings a lifetime's worth of baggage with him, including his performances in cult favorites like "Big Trouble in Little China" and "Escape From New York." It's the actor's street cred — his gravitas, if you will — that Tarantino was eager to tap into with Stuntman Mike. You have to believe the character is able to maintain a cool, easygoing charade when he isn't murdering women with his car; if his attempts to charm them ring false or strain credibility, it deflates the sense of danger he poses. With Russell in the role, however, even the audience starts to buy into his act.
As Russell noted, it wasn't even anything specific from his roles in those films that Tarantino wanted to tap into. Rather, he "wanted to carry into this movie the aspect of some of the things that I present by having played Snake Plissken [in 'Escape From New York'] all these years ago, and what it meant to him personally [...]."
Death Proof features Russell's best performance in a Tarantino film
Our associations with Russell also make it all the more surprising when the gloves come off and Mike's intended victims turn the tables on him. It's only then that he drops the whole laid-back-buckaroo-with-a-twinkle-in-his-eye charade and crumbles into a howling, babbling mess. He's almost like a child who's never been told "no" before and cannot fathom that his terrible actions might have equally horrible, and well-deserved, consequences for him. Never too proud to play the buffoon (something he did to amazing effect in "Big Trouble in Little China"), Russell leans just as hard, if not harder, into this aspect of the character as he does with his coiled, predatory side.
Russell has since reunited with Tarantino on his chilled-to-the-bone Western "The Hateful Eight" and played a small role in his revisionist nostalgia piece "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," both of which subvert our expectations by casting the ever-charismatic Russell against type. Still, for my money, the actor has yet to top Stuntman Mike when it comes to his characters in the worlds of Tarantino.