As anticipation builds for Quentin Tarantino‘s latest flick Django Unchained, word is spreading on who the famed director originally had in mind to play the film’s title character. And as we learned earlier this year, it wasn’t Jamie Foxx.
Related: Kerry Washington Talks Power, Politics and Django Unchained [VIDEO]
In June, Will Smith discussed his missed opportunity to play Django due to conflicting schedules. Hollywood’s golden boy said that although Unchained was “one of the most amazing screenplays” he had ever seen, its timing with Men in Black 3 was less than perfect.
So that left one actor out, who were the other five?
In a recent interview with Playboy, Tarantino revealed his initial choices for the lead role and his plans to pit them against each other before finding Foxx. He explained:
“‘I met six different actors and had extensive meetings with all of them, and I went in-depth on all of their work,’ Tarantino tells Playboy (in the issue that will be on stands Nov. 20). ‘Idris Elba, Chris Tucker, Terrence Howard, M.K. Williams [from HBO's Boardwalk Empire], Tyrese. They all appreciated the material, and I was going to put them through the paces, make them go off against one another and kind of put up an obstacle course. And then I met Jamie and realized I didn’t need to do that.’ So what was it about Foxx that led Tarantino to cast him? ‘He was the cowboy… Forget the fact that he has his own horse — and that is actually his horse in the movie. He’s from Texas; he understands. …He understood what it’s like to be thought of as an ‘other.’”
Excellent choice, Mr. Tarantino! And as for Foxx, he’s just as excited to see how far this film will go.
“I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t in this movie, but this movie is, I think, one of the ones that may change the trajectory of where I was going. So, just thanks to [Quentin],” he said at this year’s San Diego Comic Con.
Django Unchained hits theaters nationwide on Dec. 25.
The post Quentin Tarantino Reveals 6 Actors Tapped To Play Jamie Foxx’s Role In ‘Django Unchained’ appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.