If you’ve ever wondered why so many of Quentin Tarantino’s characters hold fast to deep-seated resentments, wonder no more. In a new interview on The Moment podcast, the Oscar-winning filmmaker confessed to a grudge he’d been holding since childhood, when he vowed to never give his mother so much as a penny after she insulted his early screenwriting.
Via The Hollywood Reporter, Tarantino told host Brian Koppelman (Billions) that his mom had “a hard time about my scholastic non-abilities,” which irked her even more because the boy spent his time in class writing screenplays. “She was bitching at me about that,” Tarantino said, “and then, in the middle of her little tirade, she said, ‘Oh and by the way, this little writing career?’ — with the finger quotes — ‘this little writing career that you’re doing? That shit is fucking over!’”
As Tarantino explained, “She just meant don’t do it in class when you’re supposed to be doing something else.” But the budding director took it very personally. “When she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I was in my head and I go: ‘Okay, lady. When I become a successful writer, you will never see penny one from my success. There will be no house for you. There’s no vacation for you; no Elvis Cadillac for mommy. You get nothing because you said that.”
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And he meant it. “Did you stick to that?” Koppelman asked. “Yeah, yeah,” Tarantino replied. “I helped her out of a jam with the IRS, but no house! No Cadillac.”
When Koppelman suggested that he could surely now afford a house for the woman who gave him life, Tarantino shot him down. “There are consequences for your words as you deal with your children! Remember: There are consequences for your sarcastic tone about what’s meaningful to them.”
Instead of giving it to mom, Tarantino has been spending his money on things like Vista Theatre in Los Angeles. In his free time, he recently published a novelization of his ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Earlier this summer, the 58-year-old doubled-down on his plan to retire after his next film, saying, “I know film history, and from here on end, directors do not get better.”
