Quentin Tarantino Didn’t Even Consider ‘Pulp Fiction’ With Uma Thurman And Bruce Willis

Quentin Tarantino’s seminal classic Pulp Fiction has achieved the kind of iconic place in cinema where is seems jarringly dissonant to the imagine of Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis switched out of some of the film’s central roles, yet that may have been the case if weren’t for the happenstance that established the final cast.

A single page of Quentin’s original list of possible Pulp Fiction cast members was leaked to Reddit Sunday evening. While a few of Tarantino’s original choices were met, several of the film’s key roles, such as those played by Uma and John, went to someone else.

Some of Pulp Fiction’s parts weren’t far off the mark when it came to Tarantino’s original intentions. While the role of Los Angeles hitman Vincent Vega was originally written for frequent collaborator Michael Madsen, Quentin wrote below his name that John Travolta was a “strong, strong, strong second choice.”

For other roles, actors who were at least partially defined by their characters in Pulp Fiction weren’t even among those Tarantino initially considered. For Mia Wallace, the sultry cokehead wife of crime lord Marsellus Wallace, Quentin listed nearly 10 other actresses — among them Patricia Arquette, Angela Bassett, and Virginia Madsen. Without first testing their chemistry in Pulp Fiction, Thurman and Tarantino might not have even sparked up the pairing that would bring her explosive role as The Bride in Kill Bill.

Uma aside, Bruce was neglected in the original list by a stiff caliber of male leads for his role as boxer-turned-fugitive Butch. Quentin was originally thinking along the lines of Matt Dillion, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, or Nicolos Cage. While the latter is often criticized for his acting ability, Tarantino has always professed his love for him despite telling The Village Voice that he was chronically “miscast.”

Still, Pulp Fiction purists might shudder at the thought of Cage rolling around with Fabienne on the back his motorcycle instead of Willis. But even that perfectly cast role could have been interpreted differently — Julie Delpy, Irene Jacobs, and Emanuel Beart were all named alongside Maria de Medeiros.

Quentin did at least realize some of his original vision with Harvey Keitel as The Wolf, but the list of men that came under him is one of the most tantalizing of the entire Reddit leak of potential Pulp Fiction players. Imagine the unforgettable backseat bloodbath cleanup being conducted by Al Pacino, Danny Devito, or Warren Beatty.

Do you prefer any of Quentin Tarantino’s original Pulp Fiction casting choices, even major ones like Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis?

[Image via Miramax]