Quentin Tarantino Is Back on the Big Screen, Starring in His First Movie Since From Dusk Till Dawn

Well, here is something I did not expect to type this year: Quentin Tarantino is acting again. Not a cameo in his own film, but an actual role in someone else’s movie.

The project

The film is called Only What We Carry, and it is the new feature from Charlotte Gainsbourg. It is a drama with an ensemble that includes Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, Liam Hellmann, and U.S. singer Lizzy McAlpine. Production has already wrapped.

Deadline describes it as "a meditation on love, loss, and the quiet courage it takes to move forward."

Tarantino plays a character named John Percy, a guy who shows up out of nowhere and, as the logline puts it, "stirs long-buried truths." If that sounds intriguingly vague, yeah, same.

• Title: Only What We Carry
• Filmmaker: Charlotte Gainsbourg
• Genre: Drama
• Status: Already finished shooting
• Cast: Quentin Tarantino, Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, Liam Hellmann, Lizzy McAlpine
• Tarantino’s role: John Percy, whose sudden arrival shakes up old secrets
• Why it is notable: It is his first time starring in a non-Tarantino movie since 1996

Why this is a big deal

Tarantino pops up in his own films from time to time, but he almost never signs on as an actor for other directors. The last time he did that was 1996’s From Dusk till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez, where he shared the screen with Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Cheech Marin, Fred Williamson, and Salma Hayek. Since then, he has basically stayed away from acting altogether. No word yet on what made him say yes to this one.

Meanwhile, on the directing front...

He is still reportedly planning a tenth and final movie, but nothing is moving fast. He had been developing something called The Movie Critic, then backed away from it. So whatever his last film ends up being, it is a mystery for now.

Curious to see how he is used here and what kind of movie Gainsbourg made. More when we get it.