Jennifer Lawrence almost landed the female lead in Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight.
Tarantino was initially interested in casting the actress for the part of Daisy Domergue and even met with her prior to filming to discuss the possibility of her joining the spaghetti western.
“I’m a huge Jennifer Lawrence fan,” Tarantino, who hand-selected the majority of the “Hateful Eight” cast before writing the script, told Entertainment Weekly.
He said he admires the bond between the actress and filmmaker David O. Russell and has noted how their relationship closely resembles that of actress Bette Davis and director William Wyler.
“I can see her doing a good job with this role, so we went to talk about it and everything,” Tarantino said of potentially casting Lawrence, 25. “She was just doing me a courtesy to see me, I think. She was doing ‘Joy.’ She had to do all this publicity on the ‘Hunger Games’ movies. There was just no f—ing way in the world that she was available.”
“Having said that, I’m glad I didn’t cast somebody that young. I think I absolutely positively made the right choice, as far as the ages of the characters,” said Tarantino, who ultimately cast Jennifer Jason Leigh, 53, for the role of Daisy.
Leigh’s Daisy is a foul-mouthed, conniving fugitive, who’s bloodied and battered for the better portion of the film, which might ignite charges of misogyny.
But Leigh disagreed with those speculations, claiming that she wasn’t concerned about audiences deeming the violence imposed on Daisy as misogynistic.
“She’s a leader and she’s tough,” she insisted of her character, which she credits as one of the best roles of her life. “She’s hateful and a survivor and scrappy. Quentin doesn’t have an ounce of misogyny in him. It’s not in his writing. It’s not in his being.”
Nobody Writes Women like Tarantino
She added, “He writes very brave, bold, insane, fabulous women. Nobody writes women like he does.”
End Note:
Jason Leigh would secure her only Oscar nod (in the Supporting Actress category) for her performance in Tarantino’s film.
