By Many actors have done their best work under Quentin Tarantino, so it’s a shame to read that Kevin Costner has had to pull out of next year’s Django Unchained due to a scheduling conflict. Costner’s schedule for the near future includes The Man Of Steel (where he’s playing Pa Kent, which has never previously been an especially big role), TV series Hatfields & McCoys, WW2 drama A Little War Of Our Own and something called Learning Italian. If his departure from Django is down to one of those projects, let’s hope it proves worth losing out on working with Tarantino for.
Costner’s casting was particularly interesting because he usually only takes hero roles, where Tarantino had cast him as a sadistic slave owner. Henry Fonda made a similar transition for Sergio Leone when taking on the role of Frank in Once Upon A Time In The West, resulting in one of the most iconic Western villains of all time. Given how low-key Costner’s recent career has been, it would have been ridiculous to expect him to make the same impact, but if anyone could do something special with him, it would have been Tarantino. If only it were still possible to ask the late, great David Carradine. Still, Carradine’s role as Bill only came about because Warren Beatty pulled out, so Costner’s replacement may be even better still.
[Screenrant, via Justin Kroll]