Pulp Fiction's Hidden Secrets: 4 Little-Known Facts About Quentin Tarantino's Film

Pulp Fiction – one of the most important films of the 90s – turned 30 years old. The success story of Quentin Tarantino's second film is full of misunderstandings and overcoming.

We have chosen four lesser-known facts about Pulp Fiction that not even the most hardcore fans know.

1. Uma Thurman Wasn't the First Choice

The list of potential actors that Tarantino compiled in preparation for Pulp Fiction has been circulating on the Internet for quite some time. And Uma Thurman is not on it. During the search for the actress to play Mia, the director interviewed Meg Ryan, Daryl Hannah and Michelle Pfeiffer, with Tarantino having high hopes for the latter.

In the end, two candidates remained: Uma Thurman and Jennifer Aniston. When Tarantino offered Thurman the role, she initially turned it down. The actress' agent did not recommend working with a no-name, albeit talented one.

And the director wanted her in the project so badly that he called her personally and read the dialogue between Mia and Vincent during the restaurant scene over the phone. Thurman listened to Tarantino and gave her approval.

2. Who is Angela Jones?

But for the role of Esmarelda Villalobos, the mysterious taxi driver whose car Butch hops into after a fateful murder in the ring, Tarantino didn't look for anyone. He wrote it specifically for Angela Jones.

The director had noticed the young actress in a 1991 short film called Curdled, in which she played a cleaner who cleans up crime scenes after murders. The role inspired Tarantino so much that he created Esmarelda, a character fascinated by death.

3. The Beginning of Rodriguez and Tarantino's Duo

When Quentin Tarantino played the nervous, coffee-loving Jimmy in The Bonnie Situation, he couldn't stand behind the camera. So Tarantino's friend Robert Rodriguez directed the scene.

That was the beginning of a creative collaboration that led to several cult classics, including From Dusk Till Dawn and Grindhouse.

4. The Pulp Fiction Script Had a Complicated Fate

Tarantino pitched the Pulp Fiction script to several studios. The first was TriStar, who picked it up before Miramax. However, when the studio head read the final version of the script, he was extremely unhappy.

TriStar sent the script back for rewrites and then didn't want to work with the director at all. Most other studios also passed on the project until Miramax picked it up. Not only did the studio accept the script without significant changes, but it also played a key role in making Pulp Fiction one of the most iconic films of the 90s.