AFTERMATH

There’s a rich history that exists in the few moments that traverse the shocking events in Texas to the leisurely morning in Tennessee. Michael Parks, who plays Earl McGraw in PLANET TERROR, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN and KILL BILL, makes a return appearance in DEATH PROOF.

Earl is joined by Edger McGraw, played by Parks’s son James, and Dakota McGraw, played by Marley Shelton. Tarantino has appreciated Parks’s work for years, and writes dialogue rhythmically in tune with Parks’s staid delivery.

But Tarantino had not thought of a connection between Parks and Russell, who worked together on the film for one day: “One of the reasons I love Michael Parks was because of his TV show, ‘Then Came Bronson.’ He was one of the coolest characters on TV back in like the late 60s. During that time Kurt Russell was about nineteen years old and getting ready to be a professional baseball player.

One of the last things Kurt did before he became a pro was to play a baseball player in ‘Then Came Bronson.’ I actually intellectually knew that, but didn’t think about it when I cast him. At the script reading they hadn’t seen each other since then, and they had the greatest time. Parks didn’t know that Kurt Russell had been cast as Stuntman Mike, and when he put it together, he said ‘He’s playing Stuntman Mike? Thank God! Lord be praised!’”

“One of the first things we shot when we switched over to start doing my movie was Michael Parks little exposition scene that Simon Oakland has in PSYCHO, where he explains the movie you’ve just seen to you,” Tarantino says, referring to the famous final moments of Alfred Hitchcock’s slasher movie. “There’s a big three-page monologue. Kurt watched Michael Parks do his scene, and when the thing was over he said ‘Well, Michael, as per usual you’ve raised the bar.’”

“He’s a good, solid actor, number one,” Michael Parks says of Russell. “On top of that, this is a cat that hasn’t changed. I worked with him thirty-seven years ago. He was a great kid then. Hasn’t changed one iota. Kurt has a great sense of humor, too. He’s very, very funny.”

Marley Shelton, who has been added to the McGraw mythology as Dakota McGraw, was happy to be a part of Russell’s first day on the job. The part allowed her to reunite with Parks, who was her playmate during the production of PLANET TERROR.

“I just can’t get enough of him. He’s so good at getting under my skin, and, and purposely throwing me off-balance, and needling me. He’s so funny, he’s so incredibly talented, and it’s a true honor to share the screen with him. And he’s also wickedly funny. He’s got such a dry sense of humor. I love spending time with him.” James Parks adds: “I will always be thankful to Quentin for letting me act with my Dad. It’s a rare privilege for me.”

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MUSTANG/CHALLENGER/CHARGER
A second group of gifted actors joined the production: Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Direct from a plane from New Zealand to deliver a karmic high kick to Stuntman Mike (and the fourth wall) is Zoë Bell...