LaPaglia
At one point, director and writer Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming western Django Unchained was a star-studded affair. But as production continued for a lengthy amount of time, some of the biggest names eventually fell to the wayside. Kevin Costner opted out, as did Kurt Russell, Sacha Baron Cohen and even Joseph Gordon-Levitt. With principal photography finally wrapping late last month, the end of the bumpy road has finally been over and Tarantino now moves into post-production with a limited window before the set release date of Christmas Day. Now, one more actor has spoken out by saying not only did he leave the film as well but says filming was an absolute nightmare.
Anthony LaPaglia told Australian site News (via The Playlist) that he had dropped out of Django Unchained in order to keep his commitment to Robert Connolly’s Underground. When asked why, Lapaglia stated ”The production was just out of control, over-budget, it was everywhere. I had to formally withdraw. They recast it and they still haven’t shot anything. I could have said nothing and just hung out, I could be there shooting it now.”
Originally, LaPaglia was set to team-up with Gordon-Levitt as a pair of Australian bounty hunter brothers that main characters Django (Jamie Foxx) and Schultz (Christoph Waltz) come across on their quest to save Django’s wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the plantation run by central antagonist Marvin Candle (Leonardo DiCaprio). The brothers are said to play a key part in an ending sequence of the film but with Tarantino allegedly changing some of the script in the middle of filming, there’s certainly plenty of mystery as to what the final product in theaters will be.
Among those who have dropped out, Jonah Hill has been confirmed as the only one to return since he was previously unavailable. It’s unclear what role he’ll have this time around, or who has been included in the other characters’ recasting. Kurt Russell’s part was simply absorbed into Walton Goggins’ character who already existed within the film, and as to what else could be in store is certainly up in the air for the time being.
The trailer released two months ago still has fans buzzing, but The Weinstein Company is likely holding off for the time being before making a large marketing push. With that push is slated to be a number of new reveals from what little has already been unveiled, so we should receive more concrete answers then.
Django Unchained hits theaters on December 25th.
