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Quentin Tarantino doesn’t forgive or forget and certainly doesn’t fake admiration. Most actors would sell their souls or at least ditch their schedules for a chance to work with him, and why wouldn’t they? If you get on his good side, chances are he’ll bring you back for more. His films may be bloody, but his loyalty to actors is ironclad.
From the moment Quentin Tarantino stitched together Reservoir Dogs with the help of Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, and Michael Madsen, a tight-knit troop began to form, one that has only grown more iconic with the likes of Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio added to the lineup.
Tarantino doesn’t just build careers but revives them. Just ask John Travolta, Robert Forster, Pam Grier, or Bruce Dern, whose stardom he yanked out of obscurity and back into the spotlight. But not everyone is welcome in his cinematic universe.
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There’s one name that makes Quentin Tarantino recoil. He was a semi-regular screen presence from the ’70s and ’80s and appeared in genre flicks that rarely climbed above cult status. And in the director’s eyes, this actor’s legacy is less a forgotten gem and more a good riddance. Well, if you couldn’t fathom what Tarantino is alluding to, he is speaking about The Funhouse and, more importantly, Miles Chapin.
Tarantino didn’t mince words in Cinema Speculation, his punchy blend of memoir and movie criticism, when recounting Tobe Hooper’s 1981 horror outing. “Miles Chapin, an actor I’ve always been allergic to, is as annoying as usual as Richie, the wimpy-creepy-bespectacled best friend of [Cooper Huckabee’s] Buzz,” he wrote, per Far Out Magazine. “Chapin goes through the film with a sweater tied around his neck (which in those days was egregious enough for me to hate him on sight).”
A rare behind the scenes photograph of Tobe Hooper taken on the set of his 1981 horror film, THE FUNHOUSE. Here, the great man can be seen surrounded by members of his cast, including Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Miles Chapin, Largo Woodruff, and Shawn Carson. #horror pic.twitter.com/Tyi4cq8YpL
— Michael Doyle (@DoyleofDarkness) June 24, 2024
Chapin, who was not exactly a household name but not entirely unknown either, faded from the industry scene in the early 2000s and dropped out quietly. His last credit was in the made-for-television disaster film Lightning: Fire from the Sky, and since then, he has created a life away from the lens as a real estate agent, a published author, and a sales consultant. It has been decades since he last acted, but Tarantino still has that bitter taste in mind.
And yet, in true Quentin Tarantino fashion, the insult came dipped in a weird kind of praise. “While I’ve never liked Miles Chapin,” he added, “you can’t deny he is perfectly cast as shit-heel Richie.” It’s a uniquely Tarantino compliment, the kind you laugh at before realizing it’s also a verbal sucker punch. But that’s the thing with Quentin, as he’s a cinephile first, a filmmaker second, and a grudge-holder always. If he doesn’t like you, not even retirement can save you from a takedown in one of his essays.
As for Chapin, whether he knows about Quentin Tarantino’s long-standing dislike or not is unclear, and honestly, he probably doesn’t care. Hollywood’s in his rear-view, and he’s got more pressing things to do than worry about what a modern auteur thinks of his 40-year-old horror performance.
For more such stories, check out Hollywood News
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