Kurt Russell Was Worried Quentin Tarantino Wouldn't Cast Him In Death Proof

It's hard to imagine that Kurt Russell would get anywhere near the vicinity of stressed when it comes to being cast in a film. That being said, when that movie is being helmed by legendary director Quentin Tarantino, even the actor behind Snake Plissken starts to sweat a little. In a 2007 interview with IGN, the star of films like "The Thing," "Escape from New York," and "Tombstone" (only one of the best Westerns of all-time) explained that when it came to getting his gig in "Death Proof," he was already aware of the potential competition he was up against thanks to a call from Freddy Rodriguez.

Russell recalled the "Planet Terror" star telling him, "'I think Quentin's going to come to you with this movie.' He said, 'I think it was supposed to be Mickey Rourke, but I don't think that's happening. And there are some other guys they're talking about. I know that Ving Rhames was someone who was being pushed heavily.' But I don't know if Quentin had ever seriously considered it or not."

From there, a game of what Russell described as "phone tag" got underway. It resulted in Tarantino giving the perfect sell why the actor should get behind the wheel of "Death Proof," the highly fueled story of a murderous stunt wheelman that takes a U-turn when a group of his would-be victims come after him. It might sit at the bottom of most rankings of Tarantino's movies, but "Death Proof" still makes for one hell of a ride.

After a bit of back and forth and ironing out details, Russell recalled just why the director of "Pulp Fiction," one of the best movies ever made, wanted him in his next project: 

"So I called him up. We got ahold of each other and he said, 'You've had a rogue's gallery over the years of great characters that I've just loved, and I would really like to see Stuntman Mike become one of those guys, one of those characters that you hang on your wall when you're done.'"

Tarantino ultimately convinced Russell to don the cool black shades and become a serial killer stunt driver. "I said I'd love to do it. I read it, I thought it was exactly the kind of movie I'd love to work on with Quentin, and in the environment he was talking about, there was just no reason not to just jump and say, 'Let's go do this and have fun,'" Russell added.

Fun was certainly had. The film marked the first team-up between Russell and the revered director, who would eventually reunite eight years later for "The Hateful Eight." Russell also played a significant role in Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," serving as the film's narrator and even showing up in the flesh at one point. As Tarantino put it in a 2019 interview with Entertainment Weekly, "Kurt is absolutely the youngest guy that I can work with, who actually lived that life." Well, they sure don't make them like they used to.