Django Unchainedis often considered one of Quentin Tarantino’s best and most brutal movies. Taking place in 1858 during the antebellum era of the deep South, the film starsJamie Foxxas the titular character, alongside Christoph Waltz as the bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz, as the two go on a journey through different plantations in search of bounties as well as tracking down and saving Django’s wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the “Candyland” plantation, where she is “owned” by Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), a ruthless plantation owner who runs “mandingo” fights.
When looking back at the most iconic roles of his career forVanity Fair, Foxx shared an interesting story about the production ofDjango Unchained. The actor reminisced about how DiCaprio was initially reluctant to portray Calvin Candie and specifically had trouble with the racial slurs in the script. However, Foxx would reveal that it wasSamuel L. Jackson, who plays Stephen in the film, had some choice words for DiCaprio to motivate him to read his lines:
“The subject matter. The N-word, specifically. Leo had a hard time saying the N-word. We’re doing a read, and Leo says, ‘Hey, guys. Cut! I just can’t do this. This is not me.’ Samuel L. Jackson goes, ‘Say that st motherf****r! It’s just another Tuesday. Fk them.’"
Foxx would also have his own conversation with DiCaprio, which would assist theInceptionactor in getting into the mindset of playing a despicable character like Calvin Candie.
Calvin Candie is One of Quentin Tarantino’s Most Ruthless Characters
Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as Calvin Candie is one of the actor’smost memorable roles, mainly because of how unrecognizable he is. Calvin’s desensitization to the brutality of slavery and making people fight each other for his own entertainment is one of the more shocking aspects ofDjango Unchained. In the same video for Vanity Fair, Foxx detailed a conversation he had with DiCaprio aboutthe time period the film is set in that would end up helping the actor get into the right mindset:
“I told Leo that in slavery days we would never talk to each other. I’m not your friend. I’m not Jamie Foxx. I’m Django. And I told him, you won’t really be able to play that character until you understand what slavery is about. It was tough. it was a horrific. So the next day I see Leo and I say what’s up to him. He don’t speak to me. He’s ready. Everybody started digging in.”
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Django Unchainedwould end up receiving five Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound Editing. The film would only win two of those Oscars — Christoph Waltz for best-supporting actor as Dr. Schultz and Tarantino for his original screenplay. DiCaprio’s performance as Candie is often considered one of thebest performances in Quentin Tarantino’s filmography, and it’s interesting to hear how the different actors involved in the production, like Samuel L. Jackson, would help the actor become more comfortable playing an evil character like Calvin Candie.
Django Unchained
