Starring in a Quentin Tarantino film is one of the most coveted jobs in Hollywood. Actors dream of delivering his uniquely quotable dialogue and the chance to capture them in one of the iconic moments of the film he seems to deliver consistently. But Pam Grier wants fans to know that once they’ve been to the concert, it’s not necessarily the point.
As he reflects on his career in a new interview Entertainment Weeklythe Blaxploitation legend explained that the two-week rehearsal process made him wonder if he could keep up with Tarantino’s dense dialogue and Samuel L. Jackson’s quick delivery.
“You have to talk quickly with Sam Jackson’s Ordelle,” Grier said of his eponymous character. “I said, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to talk to Sam Jackson that fast, going down the stairs and not looking at the stairs. I’m going to kill myself! I said, “Quentin, I’m going to fall. Can we just end it with me lying on the stairs saying I can’t keep up with this man? He talks so fast!”
Despite the artistically demanding filming process, Grier has no regrets about taking on the challenge of working with Tarantino.
“I was ready to work with Quentin and give him what he needed,” he said. “He only uses one or two punches. When he works you and you feel it and you’re on the court, man, it just flies.”
The hard work put into the project has certainly paid off. “Jackie Brown” was recently ranked #48 on IndieWire’s list of the 100 Best Movies of the 90s. For this story, IndieWire summed up the film’s place in history: “‘Jackie Brown’ may be far less gory and slightly less quotable than Tarantino’s other work from the 1990s, but it makes up for it by nailing the all the little things he does so well. Clever casting, a flawless soundtrack and wall-to-wall intertextuality showed that the same man who delivered “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction” was still lurking behind the camera. But while most of Tarantino’s productions aim to give audiences the gory catharsis they crave, ‘Jackie Brown’ stands out as something worth remembering because it deprives you of it.”
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