50 Fun Facts About Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Who plays Rick Dalton?

Dalton is an aging Western star whose stunt double, Cliff Booth, is his best friend, driver and gofer.

What is the name of the fictional 1959-63 TV Western that made Rick Dalton a star?

It was inspired by a real Steve McQueen series; Tarantino wrote five half-hour episodes of it just to get inside Dalton's head.

Which real Steve McQueen series was Rick's fictional show modeled on?

McQueen himself appears in the film, played by Damian Lewis, at the Playboy Mansion party.

What is the name of Cliff Booth's pit bull?

Brandy lives with Cliff in his trailer and does most of the damage in the finale.

Why does Cliff struggle to find stunt work?

His wife Billie's death, and the ambiguity around it, is a nod to Natalie Wood; the novelization confirms he did kill her, with a speargun.

Which real TV Western does Rick guest-star in as the villain during the film?

Sam Wanamaker, played by Nicholas Hammond, directed the real Lancer pilot too, and the Land Pirates were characters in it.

Who plays Trudi Fraser, the precocious child actor who impresses Rick on the Western set?

The character was inspired by Jodie Foster; the novel says she grows up to earn three Oscar nominations.

Which agent, played by Al Pacino, urges Rick to make spaghetti Westerns in Italy?

Tarantino wrote the William Morris agent specifically for Pacino; the scene between them was first written as a one-act play.

Which real Italian director does Rick go to Italy to work for?

Rick shoots three more films there, one for the real Antonio Margheriti, and marries starlet Francesca Capucci.

What is the name of the Italian starlet Rick marries in Italy?

Lorenza Izzo plays her; the character was based on Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Virna Lisi and Monica Vitti.

Who plays Sharon Tate?

She did not consult Roman Polanski but read his 1984 autobiography; Tate's sister Debra lent her some of Sharon's jewelry and perfume for the film.

Which of her own films does Sharon Tate watch in a theater?

The scene at the Fox Bruin was inspired by Tarantino's own experience of watching True Romance with a paying audience.

Which martial artist trained Tate for her spy comedy and fights Cliff on The Green Hornet set?

Mike Moh played him; Lee's daughter Shannon objected to the portrayal and China canceled the film's release a week before it was due.

Who plays Charles Manson?

He played Manson in David Fincher's Netflix series Mindhunter the same year.

Whom is Manson looking for when he turns up at the Polanski house?

Jay Sebring tells him Melcher has moved; the encounter is based on a real 1969 visit reported by the house's owner and a photographer friend of Polanski.

Cliff gives a hitchhiking Manson girl a ride to Spahn Ranch. What is her nickname?

Margaret Qualley plays her; the composite character was modeled mainly on Ruth Ann Moorehouse, whom Manson sent into the city to lure men with money.

Who plays ranch owner George Spahn, a role Burt Reynolds died before filming?

Reynolds' one lasting contribution was advising that someone should tell Booth he's "pretty for a stunt guy", a line delivered on the Green Hornet set.

What does Cliff force ranch hippie Clem to do after Clem sabotages his car?

Tex, the group's leader, is summoned but arrives only as Cliff drives away; they meet again on August 8.

Who plays "Squeaky" Fromme, George Spahn's caretaker?

Tarantino first approached Jennifer Lawrence for the part; Spahn gave Fromme the nickname because of the sound she made when he touched her.

Who plays Tex Watson?

Tarantino told him he was auditioning for a villain or hero on Lancer, when the part was actually Tex.

On what date do Rick and Cliff return from Italy and go out drinking?

It is the night of the real Tate murders; in the film's universe they never happen, and neither do the LaBianca murders.

What does Cliff smoke before taking the dog for a walk on the final night?

He bought it from a hippie girl at a traffic light, a scene whose dialogue Tarantino took from the 1968 documentary Revolution.

Why do the Manson followers decide to kill Rick instead of the Tate house occupants?

Rick had come out and yelled at them over their car's loud muffler; one of the four then deserts and flees with the car.

Which Manson follower deserts the group and drives off with their car?

Maya Hawke plays her; the character stands in for Linda Kasabian, the fourth member sent to the Tate house, who later testified against the others.

What does Rick use to kill Sadie in the pool?

He retrieves it from his shed; earlier we see him using it in a clip from one of his war movies.

Which real 1963 film is Rick Dalton digitally inserted into, in Steve McQueen's role?

Dalton appears as Virgil Hilts; other inserted footage puts him in an episode of The F.B.I. and over Ty Hardin's face in Death on the Run.

Which real Hollywood restaurant did Tarantino insist on as a "must have" location?

Tarantino said he felt lucky a place still existed exactly as it always had; production designer Barbara Ling made every marquee in the film historically accurate.

Which fictional cigarette brand from the Tarantino universe does Rick advertise in the mid-credits scene?

Big Kahuna Burger, another recurring Tarantino brand, appears on a billboard in the film.

This was Tarantino's first film made without which producers?

He cut ties after the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein and staged a bidding war for a new distributor.

Which studio won the bidding war to distribute the film?

Sony beat Warner, Universal, Paramount, Annapurna and Lionsgate by meeting Tarantino's demands, including final cut and 25 percent of first-dollar gross.

What budget did Tarantino demand from the studio?

He also demanded final cut, extraordinary creative controls and that the rights revert to him after 10 to 20 years.

Where did the movie premiere in May 2019?

It was shown there as a 35mm print; the trailer released the same day featured Paul Revere & the Raiders and Neil Diamond.

To which late actor, in his final film role, is the movie dedicated?

Perry plays Lancer actor Wayne Maunder, who himself died during the shoot; Perry's son Jack appears with him.

How many Academy Awards did the film win from its ten nominations?

Best Supporting Actor and Best Production Design, for Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh; it also took the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy.

Which cast member won an Oscar for the film?

It was Pitt's first acting Oscar; DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor.

What was Cliff Booth's outfit in the film originally, according to his backstory?

Booth was paid for stunt work on The Born Losers with the outfit; Pitt also channeled McQueen's stunt double Bud Ekins.

Which real stuntman and judo champion, once a murder suspect, was an inspiration for Cliff Booth?

LeBell was reportedly brought onto The Green Hornet after complaints that Lee was beating up the stuntmen; Gary Kent was another inspiration.

What real-life relationship gave Tarantino the idea for the film while making Death Proof?

Casino had doubled Russell for years, and Tarantino sensed it was one of the last things they would do together.

Where did Tarantino keep the only copy of the script's third act to stop it leaking?

He publicly referred to the project as Magnum opus and spent five years developing it as a novel before deciding to make it a screenplay.

What is the name of Tarantino's 2021 novelization, his debut as an author?

He called it a complete rethinking; the film's finale happens near the start of the book, and Rick ends up a regular on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

Which director was hired in 2025 to helm the Cliff Booth sequel written by Tarantino?

The Netflix film, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, follows Booth as a Hollywood studio fixer and was scheduled for select theaters and Netflix in 2026.

Which country canceled the film's release a week before opening after Tarantino refused to cut the Bruce Lee scene?

Shannon Lee, Bruce's daughter, had complained to the China Film Administration; the film was a US-UK-China co-production.

Which musician appears in the opening credits dancing with Sharon Tate in the Pan Am scene?

Margot Robbie also briefly reprises her Pan Am stewardess character Laura Cameron, serving Rick a cocktail on his flight home.

Which celebrity interviewer character was originally named after Wink Martindale before a clearance change?

Spencer Garrett plays him interviewing Rick and Cliff on the Bounty Law set.

Which book does Sharon Tate buy for Roman Polanski at the Larry Edmunds Bookshop?

In real life Tate gave Polanski a copy shortly before her death, and he dedicated his 1979 film Tess to her.

Where were the Spahn scenes shot, the real site having burned down in 1970?

Tarantino kept dogs moving in every shot, inspired by Coppola's helicopters in Apocalypse Now.

Which De Niro performance inspired Rick Dalton's trailer 'freakout' scene, improvised by DiCaprio?

DiCaprio's idea of flubbing his lines on the Lancer set was not in the script either.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?

It became Tarantino's second-highest global grosser behind Django Unchained.

Which band supplies several tracks on the film's classic-rock compilation soundtrack?

The album also includes 1960s radio ads and DJ patter.

Tarantino's stage play, announced in 2021, sets its entire second act at a dinner where?

Rick Dalton, Marvin Schwarz and Sergio Corbucci share the meal in the play, which Tarantino announced in 2021.