Quentin Tarantino is known for many things – ultra-violence, banging soundtracks, pop culture references and foot fetishes being just a few. On top of all of that, he certainly has a mischevious sense of humour, and that can come out on set in unexpected ways. According to British actor Tim Roth, who collaborated with Tarantino on his first movie in 1992, and again 20 years later on western Django Unchained – Tarantino has a very particular prank that he enjoys playing on set.
Speaking to Seth Myers in 2016 (via EW), Roth said that there are specific rules on a Tarantino set. Most notably, mobile phones aren’t allowed, and neither is falling asleep. Failure to comply can lead to alarming consequences. It could mean facing the wrath of ‘Big Jerry.’
“If you fall asleep on set, the camera crew are ready for you,” Roth said. “They’ve got Big Jerry in a bag. Big Jerry is a dildo that’s about that big. It’s purple, I think. If you fall asleep, they put it into photographs with you and you go on a Board of Shame.”
Resistance to Big Jerry is futile, Roth said. Fighting against the distribution of the photos only makes things worse. “If you take that photo down angrily, it gets bigger,” Roth said. “Eventually what they do is (I think this happened on Django Unchained), where somebody got so furious about this picture they put it all on T-shirts, and the whole crew was wearing them.”
Because Tarantino counts Kill Bill as one action movie, he has directed nine feature films as solo director – with 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being the most recent. He has been saying for some time now that his 10th film will be his last. We don’t yet know what that will be, as he’s taken some time out to write a book called Cinema Speculation.
While we wait to find out, check out our guide to the best thriller movies.