Quentin Tarantino and Tim Roth go back to the beginning of the former’s filmmaking career, with the latter starring in Reservoir Dogs’ ensemble cast. They later collaborated. Pulp Fiction The Hateful Eight, although Roth’s scenes in Tarantino’s most recent movie, Once Upon a Time, HollywoodThe aforementioned was ultimately removed. Now Roth has shed light on how he he learned he wouldn’t be present in the 2019 feature’s final cut.
In case you were not aware, Tim Roth was supposed appear in Once Upon a Time, Hollywood as Raymond, the butler of Emilie Hirsch’s Jay Sebring, Sharon Tate’s ex-boyfriend-turned-close friend. When Uproxx inquired about how he discovered he wouldn’t be present in the movie, Roth responded:
So, he actually called me to play this role, which was a character in the film. After that, he completely cut out that strand. The whole storyline was cut out by him because his first cut took four hours or five hours. And he didn’t want to do a part one and two.
Evidently Jay Sebring had a much bigger role to play in Quentin Tarantino’s original vision for Once Upon a Time, HollywoodIt is possible to remove certain scenes when assembling a movie to make it shorter. Judging by Tim Roth’s comments, the only way his scenes would have worked in the larger story is if Once Upon a Time, Hollywoodshattered into two pieces. This may have worked. Kill Bill, but Tarantino wasn’t willing to do that this time around.
So Tim Roth ended-up on Once Upon a Time, Hollywood’s cutting room floor, but the actor was still able to see the footage of himself thanks to a special screening Quentin Tarantino arranged. Roth remembered:
He did however, get me to his editing room where he was doing what he does best. I was shocked when he told me that. ‘I want to show you the scenes that you were in that I’m having to remove.’ And he sat and he screened them for me. He then showed me the film and continued to do so. But in the process, I don’t think he’d even locked picture at that point. He did it because it was so sweet. He then added the credits. ‘Tim Roth (Cut).’This is his sense of humor. This was something my boys loved. It is a favorite of my sons.
A longer version of Once Upon a Time, Hollywood was theatrically released in October 2019, four months after the original cut started playing on the big screen, but Tim Roth’s scenes were not among the extra material. Quentin Tarantino stated in June 2021, that he was likely to release a longer version of the movie (approximately three hours and twenty minutes). “in a couple years.” So perhaps Roth’s scenes could be thrown into that cut, although if you’re not willing to wait years to learn how Roth’s Raymond specifically fits into the Once Upon a Time, Hollywood picture, you’re always welcome to read the movie’s novelization.
At least Tim Roth can take comfort knowing he wasn’t the only actor who didn’t make Once Upon a Time, Hollywood’s theatrical cut, as James Marsden and Danny Strong’s scenes were also taken out, as well as a voiceover from Walton Goggins. Once Upon a Time, HollywoodIt earned more than $374 million worldwide and won two Academy Awards (Best Supporting Actor & Best Production Design), as well as being nominated for eight other categories, including Best Picture.
Quentin Tarantino hasn’t announced yet what his final movie will be, but once that information is public, we’ll pass it along. Meanwhile, Tim Roth’s latest movie, Sundown, premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, and he’ll be reprising Emil Blonsky/Abomination in Disney+’s She-Hulk series.