Quentin Taratino, noted Australian cinema enthusiast who isn’t adverse to starring in his own movies, has discussed his decision to play an oppressed Aussie miner in his forthcoming spaghetti western-inspired revenge flick, Django Unchained.
“Initially I wanted it to be a cool little collection of all of those
cool Aussie guys from the 70s like John Jarratt and Steve Bisley,” the writer-director said. “I thought that would be really cool.”
Tarantino cast Jarratt (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Wolf Creek) alongside himself and veteran American actor Michael Parks to play a trio of exploited Aussie miners who transport slave protagonist Django (Jamie Foxx) to a brutal mine in the Deep South.
“The Aussies were actually indentured servants themselves,” Tarantino said, explaining his decision to write and perform the part.
“The
LeQuint Dickey Mining Company paid for their passage from Australia to
here (America) and they had to work for three to four years to pay them back
for them to be free.“
“Django prods the guy and finds that out and
says ‘Shit peckerwood, you a slave too. They just bought you for a boat
ride. At least they didn’t charge us for the boat ride’.”
Onya mate. They don’t call us convict island for nothing.
Django Unchained opens nationally January 24th. Watch the trailer below.
