Who is the only person to win an Oscar for acting in a Quentin Tarantino film?

Who is the only person to win an Oscar for acting in a Quentin Tarantino film?

Introduction

Winning an Oscar is the truest form of approval an actor can ever expect to reach.

The little gold statue is the recognition countless people in the entertainment industry strive for, and most will never reach.

From actors to directors and musicians. Having the honor of receiving an Oscar means that you have been acknowledged as the best of the best in the movie industry – worldwide. 

But, the most exclusive part of receiving an Oscar is that not everyone will be able to.

Some of the most celebrated actors of their time never received one or weren’t even nominated for it.

Glenn Close, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Cruise, and even Johnny Depp, just to name a few, have yet to receive such high honor.

That said, there are certain ways you can stack the cards in your favor as an actor when trying to win an Oscar.

One of those ways is by working for a producer or director whose projects The Academy tends to favor.

Quentin Tarantino is not one of those directors.

So, it came as quite a surprise for those who loved his work and followed his extensive career to finally see one of the main actors on his project take home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2020.

Curious to know who that actor was and what movie they played in. Keep reading to find out.

Who is Quentin Tarantino?

Synonymous with the phrase “cult favorite,” director and producer Quentin Tarantino is known for having a very distinct filmmaking style.

Drenched in his own brand of violence, littered with comedic bits, and characterized by pretty long monologues.

There’s no in-between with his work, you either love it or you don’t.

Native to Tennessee, Tarantino was born in 1963 to a household where he had little supervision in terms of what type of movies he was allowed to watch while he was growing up.

In his rotation were films like Carnal Knowledge and Deliverance, which makes sense if we consider they heavily inspired his filmmaking style.

His first steps into the world of movies as a career came in the form of screenwriting.

Specifically, for a screenplay for From Dusk Till Dawn in the early 90s.

His next big step came when he wrote, produced, and directed Reservoir Dogs in 1992.

The movie was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, and the critics went wild. From there, it was success after success as he created some of the biggest movies of the last few years.   

Some of those include Pulp Fiction, the Kill Bill series, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. 

So, who is the only person to win an Oscar for acting in a Quentin Tarantino film?

Who is the only person to win an Oscar for acting in a Quentin Tarantino film? That elusive honor was awarded to none other than Brad Pitt for his work on Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

While the movie was dotted with incredible acting by Leonardo Dicaprio and Margot Robbi, it was Pitt’s performance that really set itself apart.

His performance as Cliff, a secondary character but not less important because of that, gave Brad Pitt his first ever acting Oscar in 2020.

While he had been nominated several times for other acting projects like Moneyball and Twelve Monkeys and had even won an Oscar for his producer credits on 12 Years A Slave, this was the first time his acting was properly recognized.

Brad and Quentin’s working relationship didn’t start with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, however.

They had previously worked together on Inglorious Basterds, where he played Lieutenant Aldo Raine, the highest-ranking officer of the group.

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What is Once Upon A Time In Hollywood about?

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood takes place during the summer before 1970 in old-school Los Angeles.

It introduces us to Rick Dalton, a has-been actor whose career has been going in steady decline, and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), who’s performed as his stunt double previously and is currently his driver.

The movie blends history with Tarantino’s own world in a way that only he can.

The plot intertwines with real figures like Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski and shows us what could have happened if Rick and Cliff had been real people during the time of the Manson Family murders.

Maybe Sharon wouldn’t have died because there were people there to save her, and maybe she’d have invited them in for a drink after a gory fight with the Manson murderers.

The movie was released at The Cannes Film Festival 25 years after Tarantino’s debut of Pulp Fiction on that same stage.

It was mostly received well by critics and viewers who loved the way vintage Hollywood was shown through the eyes of a true movie-lover. 

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