The Oscar-winning filmmaker has fulfilled a new dream, by publishing his first novel: « Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, » an adaptation of his acclaimed period epic.
Hollywood, it seems, was built on movies that were built on books. We all know that Don Corleone was a literary legend first, as was Mary Poppins, and that shark in « Jaws. » So, it might surprise you that the book that inspired Quentin Tarantino’s epic was actually written after the film. The movie, you recall, is about an aging actor and his stunt double looking for relevance in late-1960s Hollywood. The new book is actually a novelization, a much more detailed version of the script, so if for instance you want to see even more of Brad Pitt’s character, the book will tell you everything that Tarantino couldn’t fit in the film. It all makes perfect sense to the author, whom correspondent Tracy Smith met at the movie theater he owns in Los Angeles. She asked, « When I talked to you in 2009, you said – and you’ve said this to a lot of people – that at 60 you were going to ‘switch gears and become a man of letters,’ I think is how you put it to me, and ‘do novels.’ So, you’re 58, and you’re headed down that path already? » « Yeah, exactly, » Tarantino replied. « Without cutting it off at 60, I’ve started on that path. » Of course, it’s been a hell of a ride so far: Quentin Tarantino has made nine movies, and along the way created some of the most memorable characters in film history, from a yellow jumpsuit-wearing female action hero in the movies, to an unnervingly genteel Nazi villain in But as Tarantino would be the first to tell you, filmmaking is not the easiest way to make a living. Smith asked, « What is it about the literary life that appeals to you? » « Well, one nice thing is: I spend a lotta time writing my scripts, » he said. « And then, when I’m done, now I gotta go make the movie! And now I gotta cast it, and we gotta go look for locations, and then we go to another place where I go live and we spend six months doing that. It’s like this whole process. You know, it’s a fun process. And it’s a wonderful way to live a life. I’m not making it sound like it’s a bad thing. I’m very fortunate to have the situation to do that. But the idea of putting your heart and soul into a piece of writing, and then when you’re done, you’re done? That’s, that’s amazing! » And how did it feel finishing the book, « Once Upon a Time in Hollywood »? « It felt fantastic! » he said.
