Once upon a time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino and his former muse Uma Thurman hit a rough patch, but now the director has cast her daughter, Maya Hawke, in his new film.
Since just about everybody with a SAG card has joined Tarantino’s upcoming feature “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Al Pacino, what’s a few more to add to the mix?
In addition to Hawke, who’s also set to star in the upcoming season of “Stranger Things,” “Girls” creator Lena Dunham, Austin Butler and Lorenza Izzo are now attached to the project, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The casting of Hawke, the daughter of Thurman and actor Ethan Hawke, comes as a bit of a surprise given the somewhat contentious relationship as of late between the “Kill Bill” director and star.
In February, Thurman said in a powerful New York Times profile that she was assaulted by film producer Harvey Weinstein. She also recounted a violent car crash she was in on the set of Tarantino’s 2003 film.
Thurman was hospitalized after she claimed Tarantino coerced her into a stunt despite her initial resistance about her own safety after she learned the vehicle might not be performing properly. The actress crashed into a palm tree while filming, resulting in neck and knee injuries that still affect her.
While Thurman explained she didn’t believe there was “malicious intent” on Tarantino’s part, the crash and the alleged cover-up of the incident caused a serious rift between the two after years of collaboration.
Tarantino has since apologized publicly for the incident, which he called “one of my most horrendous mistakes,” while Weinstein has continued to deny Thurman’s accusations.
“I am guilty, for putting her in that car, but not the way that people are saying I am guilty of it,” Tarantino told Deadline after Thurman shared her story. “It’s the biggest regret of my life, getting her to do that stunt. As a director, you learn things and sometimes you learn them through horrendous mistakes. That was one of my most horrendous mistakes, that I didn’t take the time to run the road, one more time, just to see what I would see.”
Set against the backdrop of actress and model Sharon Tate’s murder at the hands of the Manson family, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” follows the fictional former star of a Western TV series, Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt). DiCaprio’s character happens to live next door to Tate and then-husband Roman Polanski.
Hawke will reportedly play a fictional character who goes only by Flower Child, according to Entertainment Weekly, while Dunham has been cast as a Manson devotee named Catherine “Gypsy” Share.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is set to hit theaters July 26, weeks before the 50th anniversary of Tate’s murder.