Jennifer Lawrence Nearly Starred in This Quentin Tarantino Movie

Quentin Tarantino has made multiple attempts to get Jennifer Lawrence into one of his movies, but it has not worked out so far. There were rumors she might be cast in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood when Tarantino was putting that Oscar-winning 2019 movie together, and Marc Maron finally got the filmmaker to reveal what role she might have played. During the latest episode of Maron’s WTF Podcast, Tarantino said he considered Lawrence for the small but memorable role of Squeaky Fromme, who was played by Dakota Fanning in the final film.

Tarantino “investigated” the idea of casting Lawrence as Squeaky, to the point that he even met with the Silver Linings Playbook star to show her the script. After Lawrence read it, she was “interested” in taking the part. “She was interested in doing it, but something didn’t work out, but she’s a very nice person, and I respect her as an actress,” Tarantino told Maron, notes The Playlist. Coincidentally, Tarantino said Lawrence thought he should cast Maron as Marvin Schwartz! However, Tarantino said he was considering someone older than Maron for that part, which eventually went to Al Pacino.

Although Tarantino thought about someone else for the role of Squeaky, he told Maron he was still pleased with Fanning’s performance. “I couldn’t be happier with what Dakota Fanning did, it’s one of the best performances in the movie, she’s amazing as Squeaky Fromme, she becomes [her],” he told Maron.

Tarantino was reportedly interested in casting Lawrence in The Hateful Eight way back in August 2014. The film’s only leading female role, Daisy Domergue, wound up being played by Jennifer Jason Leigh though. In 2017, reports surfaced that Lawrence, Margot Robbie, and Brad Pitt would star in the project that became Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Robbie did play Sharon Tate in the final film, while Pitt won an Oscar for playing stuntman Cliff Booth. Lawrence might have been unable to do Once Upon a Time in Hollywood because of her commitments to Red Sparrow (2018) and Dark Phoenix (2019).

Tarantino, who has Oscars for his Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained screenplays, has been committed to making only one more movie before retiring from directing. It’s not clear what that project will be, but he told Bill Maher recently he considered remaking his first film, Reservoir Dogs (1992), before scrapping that idea. In the meantime, Tarantino’s novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood hits bookstores on Tuesday.