Quentin Tarantino made some very interesting casting choices in his second movie, Pulp Fiction, but not everyone he wanted to cast agreed to sign on to his breakout film. John Travolta enjoyed his Hollywood comeback in Pulp Fiction, where he played a mafia hitman named Vincent Vega, a man who partners with Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winnfield. However, this was a large ensemble cast, and one of the biggest stars to sign on was Bruce Willis, who played Butch, the boxer who betrayed mafia boss Marsellus Wallace.

However, Willis wasn’t Tarantino’s first choice, and the director even turned Willis down after he pitched himself for a different role. Instead, Tarantino and the studio’s first choice for Butch was Matt Dillon. This seems strange since Willis was a bigger name in Hollywood at the time, but Tarantino never cared about that. Tarantino wanted Matt Dillon and offered him the role, but the actor didn’t accept the part and missed a chance to star in one of the ’90s landmark films.

The Real Reason Matt Dillon Pᴀssed On Pulp Fiction Role

Matt Dillon Didn’t Understand The Character

Quentin Tarantino discussed his casting for Pulp Fiction in the 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast with Tom Segura. When Segura mentioned how great Bruce Willis was in the role of Butch, Tarantino emphasized they were not trying to get Willis for the movie since he was one of the top movie stars in the world at the time. Instead, Tarantino said he wrote the role for Matt Dillon, who he said was a fan of the Reservoir Dogs script. He also had to work around his deal with Miramax.

“We have an ensemble cast, but we needed one approved, if not two approved Miramax actors in the cast and from that point on, you can cast anybody you want in the roles as long as they had somebody they considered a ‘name’ that they could sell. So, Matt Dillon kind of fell into the name category that they would accept.”

This wasn’t a problem for Tarantino since he knew Dillon was a fan. Dillon had a minor hit in Singles two years before and had a series of crime dramas in the 1980s. However, the problem did come when Tarantino presented the role to Dillon. As the movie shows, Butch is a boxer who accepts the ultimatum to throw a boxing match for crime boss Marsellus Wallace. However, he bets on himself, wins the fight, and ends up on the run from the hitmen. However, the boxing match was not shown, and Dillon didn’t understand why.

“He read [the script] and he wasn’t so sure. He liked it, but he was disturbed by the fact that there wasn’t actually any … He wanted to see Butch actually boxing. He was really, ‘I want to see the fight.’ Maybe, he didn’t a hundred percent get it. And, he didn’t want to play that part. He wanted to play the Vincent character… So, he didn’t say no, but he didn’t say yes.”

This scared Quentin Tarantino since Matt Dillon would have ensured that Pulp Fiction got the green light. Without Dillon, there was a chance he wouldn’t get to make his movie. However, Harvey Keitel stepped in and saved the day.

Bruce Willis Proved He Was Always Meant To Be Butch

Bruce Willis Fought For A Role In Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino said that Harvey Keitel was already signed on for the movie, and he was shooting another film when Pulp Fiction was casting the other roles. Keitel invited Tarantino over to the house he was renting to hang out. It turns out that Bruce Willis lived just a few houses down the road and also showed up at Keitel’s party. Tarantino had never met Willis, but he learned the actor was a “huge fan of Reservoir Dogs.” It also turned out that Keitel had told Willis about Pulp Fiction, and Willis was there to pitch himself for a role.

Willis said he wanted to play Vincent, but Tarantino said that was saved for John Travolta. Willis agreed that Travolta would be great for the role, but he had a second role he was interested in. He asked about Jules, but that didn’t work either. Tarantino said that he knew Willis could have gotten the film greenlit. But, it wasn’t right to change Jules to a white guy for the film. That is when Tarantino threw out the idea that Willis could play Butch.

“I said, ‘but I think you should be in this movie. You understand it, you get the script, you get my sense of humor. I think you should be in the movie… There is a third lead here I think you would be perfect for. And one of the reasons I think you would be perfect for Butch is I see him as like a ’50s leading man.

He asked Bruce Willis to read the script one more time with the idea of playing Butch and see if it could work for him. Willis agreed to do it and delivered this line: “The shortest sentence in the Bible is ‘Jesus wept.’ The shortest sentence in Hollywood is ‘I’m in.’ And, I’m in.” Tarantino said Willis signing on opened up everything and got Pulp Fiction made, and it is almost impossible to see anyone but Bruce Willis playing Butch in the movie.

Source: YouTube