Remember how excited we were at the news of Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino's next movie? Oh c'mon, it was only last month! You know — Tarantino, spaghetti western, Asian influences, Christoph Waltz? That's right, the follow-up to Inglourious Basterds that Tarantino is determined to shoot quickly. Well, now Tarantino is working on choosing his actors, and though this really isn't news per se, it's speculative casting. And we love that!
So far, Waltz is definitely in place as the German bounty hunter who partners with the titular Django, a freed slave trying to rescue his wife from an evil plantation owner, so there's no speculation there. Also, Tarantino regular Samuel L. Jackson is expected to play the part of Stephen, the plantation owner's valet who's charged with keeping the slaves in line. Now, Deadline is reporting that Tarantino wants Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of the plantation owner, Calvin Candie.
It seems Tarantino originally wanted DiCaprio to play the unctuous villain Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, but that part went to Waltz. Now, Tarantino wants DiCaprio for the unctuous villain in Django Unchained. We now know that this villain is not only an unctuous, evil plantation owner, but he's also the "charming but ruthless proprietor of Candyland, a despicable club and plantation in Mississippi where female slaves are exploited as sex objects and males are pitted against each other in 'mandingo' style death matches." Django will likely also get into clever cat-and-mouse conversations with Candie before opening up the can of whup-ass he is sure to have secreted on his unchained person.
But whither the actor who shall portray Django, you ask? That's a good though pretentiously phrased question, dear reader. Tarantino is said to want the lovable megalomaniac Will Smith for the part, but Deadline thinks that's a long shot. Apparently, names such as Idris Elba, Jamie Foxx and Chris Tucker are now being bandied about. While Tucker might be an interesting choice, and has worked with Tarantino before (in the wonderful Jackie Brown), I have a choice that I think is better: Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Ejiofor is an amazing actor and is not as well known as he should be. By casting him, Tarantino could hold on to the cachet of cool, which he originally obtained by using highly skilled yet little known, or long forgotten, actors.
Speaking of cool, does anyone else think that the use of Brad Pitt as a lead in Inglourious Basterds took Tarantino down a notch on the Cool Meter? And, in my opinion, his desire for Will Smith dealt another blow to his cool-ocity. I guess we can't fault Tarantino for wanting to play with the shiniest toys (and enjoy the box office dollars they might bring to the playground), but I love my Tarantino flicks stocked with the little-knowns, not the well-knowns. But that's just me. What about you?
Idris Elba!