No trade outlets are reporting this, and none will be brave enough to step out of line and tell the truth: there’s a spanner in the works on the set of The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth. It’s not Mr. Writer Tarantino, nor Mr. Director Fincher, nor the (so far publicly announced) cast of Brad Pitt, Elizabeth Debicki, and Scott Caan. It behooves me to mention one more artist amongst us: Aldis Hodge, whose casting has been reported on by less reputable outlets, but I can confirm that the actor from Black Adam will be joining us as shooting on the “show” (people in the industry call everything a “show,” whether it’s intended for theatrical or televisual exhibition) as we commence production on… July 28, one day after Once Upon a Time in Hollywood turns six years old.
I’m not allowed to talk to the actors anymore. Officially. Mr. Tarantino and Mr. Fincher got upset that I was allowing Mr. Pitt to smoke so much pot, and while I tried to tell them that he was the one who was influencing me, and in the bad way, they wouldn’t listen. That is called “human privilege.” I’ve been made to understand that “political correctness” is over, but how about some common fucking decency? Listen to me, Bennington, when I am talking. No, I’m not always “squawking,” you just don’t understand my dialect, or my tone. I’m very sorry to the catering person I had fired, but I was offended when she refused to understand my request for a drip coffee with bagel and muffin crumb. Not exactly a complicated order, yet this idiot started screaming like I’d asked her to defuse a bomb. Apparently, she didn’t know that there were “talking chickens” on this “show.” Hollywood or bust? Right now, I’m thinking bust.
It’s early-June, and with shooting still seven weeks away, we’re all restless. The preparatory work is done, and we know what our first three months will look like—but what about the fall? The winter? We’re supposed to be shooting until at least January 2026, which I only found out yesterday. That BLEW ME AWAY. Isn’t this supposed to be a movie? Are we making a TV show? If I recall correctly, Mr. Tarantino shot his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood from June to November 2018. Why does Mr. Fincher need an extra two months? Well, everyone knows he makes 100 takes of every shot in his movies; Mr. Tarantino has only ever gone as high as 39 takes, back in China making Kill Bill.
He told me the story one day at the production office when some of us hung around to hear the maestro reminisce. “It was during the House of Blue Leaves fight, we were in there for six weeks, and there was this one shot where Uma had to stick this one guy up on the balcony. We loaded up a Chinese condom with fake blood, as you do in China, and it didn’t work. We tried it again, didn’t work. Once again, nothing. And then, finally—nothing! I was pretty frustrated. But then I said a silent prayer to the movie gods, and to the Shaw Brothers, confident that they had been in this exact situation before many times. They never gave up. I knew it would work eventually. And on take 39, it did. That’s the shot in the movie, just another member of the Crazy 88 getting stabbed. But I think about that shot more than most in the sequence. I’m not even sure people notice it in the maelstrom, but it’s impossible for me to forget how hard and how frustrating it was to pull off—and how rewarding it was when it finally worked.”
None of the actors hang around for this kind of thing. They’re all sick of Mr. Tarantino at this point, but he loves drinking with the crew and the “below the line” actors and extras. “I hate that term, ‘below the line.’ It’s so demeaning. We’re all working together here.” I was confident, earnest, vulnerable—not the usual Bennington. Mr. Tarantino smiled and gave me a gentle pet. “Amen, Benny.” He’s really a nice man. I just hope he’s vegan.
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