“People Would Just Fall at His Feet” - Margaret Cho Recalls Quentin Tarantino’s Insane Hollywood Fame After ‘Pulp Fiction’ Success
ALL-AMERICAN GIRL, (from left): Quentin Tarantino, Margaret Cho, Pulp Sitcom , (Season 1, aired Feb. 22, 1995), 1994-95. Touchstone Televison Courtesy: Everett Collection Touchstone Television Courtesy Everett Collection !ACHTUNG AUFNAHMEDATUM GESCHÄTZT! PUBLICATIONXNOTxINxCANxCHNxFRAxITAxJPNxNORxPOLxRUSxESPxU
Margaret Cho has revealed that Quentin Tarantino’s fame after Pulp Fiction turned Hollywood into a never-ending welcome party, and she did not enjoy watching it. The comedian dated the filmmaker in the 1990s, right as his career was climbing at a ridiculous speed and his name was on everyone’s lips. Her memories are set to arrive in a full interview on Nov. 3, and they are packed with details.
Even legends apparently got to their feet for the Pulp Fiction filmmaker, and the names on that list are hard to ignore.
Pulp Fiction fame turned every room into a standing ovation
The attention around Quentin Tarantino grew so intense that whole rooms reorganized themselves whenever he walked in. At events such as the Directors Guild gatherings, Billy Wilder and Martin Scorsese stood up with the rest of the table to greet him.
“People would just fall at his feet, go crazy, try to get him aside," Margaret Cho recalled the experience on the Dinky Podcast.
She added, “I was really freaked out by it,” since “nobody should have that much power.”
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Their first date happened at Musso and Frank, where old Hollywood talk set the tone, Cho shared on Dinky Podcast. Tarantino stayed level-headed through the frenzy, arriving at events in a dented Geo Metro that he handed to the valet while actors pitched him scripts. Cho compared their time together to film school, since he bought out Video Archives, his old workplace, and they watched about 8,000 movies.
While fancy restaurants rose to greet Tarantino, one actor got the full show at a humbler booth, with a twist.
Quentin Tarantino performed Pulp Fiction at a Denny’s booth for John Cusack
John Cusack revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that Quentin Tarantino performed the entire story of Pulp Fiction for him over a meal at Denny’s. The setting had no boardroom or slideshow, only a booth and a very animated storyteller. Cusack said the conversation drifted to a new TV and screening room, with the director geeking out over the tech. He still found it a cool story.
Credit: Imago
Quentin Tarantino
Host Josh Horowitz noted that Tarantino supposedly had Cusack as the top choice for the role Eric Stoltz eventually played. Cusack said the part never reached him as an offer, and he never turned it down either. Horowitz joked that Tarantino may still have the number saved in his phone, waiting for a callback. Few filmmakers could pitch a movie with no script and have the listener still recalling it decades later, and that staying power says more about Tarantino’s fame than any standing ovation.
What are your thoughts on Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction fame and Denny’s pitch? Let us know in the comments.
Edited By: Aliza Siddiqui
