Showing posts with label Charles Manson. Show all posts

Monday, August 26, 2019

Margaret Qualley knows Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience'

Margaret Quealley

Margaret Qualley knows Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a 'once-in-a-lifetime experience'

By Derek Lawrence

July 27, 2019

With her bare feet kicked up on the dash, Margaret Qualley may look like she’s as relaxed as can be in Once Upon a Time Hollywood. But with Quentin Tarantino behind the camera and Brad Pitt behind the wheel, she was secretly terrified. “I mean, how can you not be? I was just trying to soak up every minute, because I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” the 24-year-old actress tells EW.

And for Qualley — who stresses how “frickin’ nervous” she was to be involved in a project with such a pedigree, and how excited she was to be working with her favorite filmmaker — Once Upon a Time almost didn’t happen.

Auditioning for the film, she initially didn’t get the part. It was only after her father began trying to get her to visit him in Panama that fate stepped in. “He was like, ‘Book a ticket to Panama and you’ll get a Quentin Tarantino movie!’” she remembers him saying, which was funny because he had no idea about her audition, or even that such a movie existed. She did book that ticket, and it was on the beaches of Panama where, despite poor cellphone reception, a call managed to get through with a dream of a message: “You’ve got to fly home because you have a chemistry read with Brad Pitt.”She ultimately landed the part of Pussycat, a member of the Manson family who catches the attention of Pitt’s taciturn stuntman, Cliff Booth, in 1969 Los Angeles. Somewhat familiar with the Manson story that plays a role in Once Upon a Time, Qualley further studied up with DVDs given to her by Tarantino, and a surprising musical selection. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with Charles Manson’s album, but I always listened to that on my way into work,” she reveals. “To be honest, it’s not bad. [Laughs] So I’d listen to that the last, like, 10 minutes of driving to Spahn Ranch to kind of get me going; it became an OCD thing more anything.”

But not even that routine could fully prepare her for the Tarantino experience. Likening him to both a “talented jazz pianist” and a “fluid machine,” Qualley praises his generous direction and infectious excitement. “He shows up on set every day like a little kid on Christmas,” she says. On one particularly memorable day, Tarantino appeared with fresh dialogue he’d stayed up all night writing in longhand; in addition to the script pages (which she kept and intends to frame), Qualley got some advice that really resonated with her.

“I remember Quentin came up to me after a take and was like, ‘Did you mean to make a noise? Maybe I’m wrong, but I had this impulse that you wanted to do something but you didn’t quite do it,’” Qualley recalls. “And I did mean to, but I was kind of scared to take up space, because I felt so lucky to be there and I didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes. He was like, ‘Well, do it on the next take if you want. If you feel like doing something, I don’t know exactly what it is, but if you have the impulse to do something, then just listen to yourself.’ And I think that’s such great advice, because it was definitely nerve-racking to be there, but he encouraged me to trust myself, which was really nice and meant a lot.”

A lot more filmmakers will surely be trusting Qualley in the coming years, considering that the Leftovers alum is earning praise for her role in Once Upon a Time just a week after receiving an Emmy nomination for her performance in Fosse/Verdon. But those future projects will have a lot to live up to. “Quentin said, ‘This is going to be the most fun you’ve ever had making a movie,’” Qualley says. “And he was right.”

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is in theaters now.

ENTERTAIMENT

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Roman Polanski writes foreword to book about murdered wife, Sharon Tate

Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate

Roman Polanski writes foreword to book about murdered wife, Sharon Tate

Jane Fonda and Joan Collins also contribute to volume about actor, who was killed by followers of Charles Manson in 1969

Ben Child
The Guardian, Tuesday 27 May 2013

Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate in 1969, the year she was killed at her LA home by members of Charles Manson's 'family'. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has written the foreword to a forthcoming book about the life of his murdered wife, Sharon Tate, reports the New York Post..

Tate was killed by followers of Charles Manson in 1969, along with three friends who were staying with her at the Los Angeles home she shared with her husband. The 26-year-old actor was due to give birth just two weeks after her death.

Polanski, who was out of town when the attacks took place, writes in the foreword: "Even after 40 years, it is difficult to write about Sharon. It is impossible, of course, to imagine what might have been if Sharon had lived. But this book allows me to remember what was."

The book, titled Recollection, has been put together by Sharon's sister Debra and will be published in the US next month. It also features contributions from its subject's co-stars on the 1967 cult drama Valley of the Dolls, Patty Duke, Joan Collins and Jane Fonda. The last writes: "She was very pregnant the last time I saw her at that house and turned down a joint that was being passed around."

THE GUARDIAN