Zach Braff has joked that Quentin Tarantino told him he stole his award when his comedy drama Garden State beat Kill Bill for the Grammy for best soundtrack compilation.
Speaking to The Ringer about the iconic soundtrack to the film, he revealed that Tarantino joked he’d stolen the Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media over that of his own film, Kill Bill: Vol 2.
The beloved soundtrack to Braff’s film included the likes of The Shins, Coldplay, Thievery Corporation and more.
He explained: “I was up against Quentin Tarantino. I certainly didn’t think there would ever be a chance where I would beat Quentin Tarantino at anything. My father wanted to come, and I was like, ‘Dad, there’s no way I’m gonna win a Grammy. Tarantino is winning the Grammy, and you’re wasting your trip from Jersey out here.’ And then we fucking won! I couldn’t believe it.
“Tarantino jokingly said, ‘You stole my fucking Grammy, man!’ and then gave me a big smile and a hug. He was super sweet and supportive. I was the kind of film-school kid that would have put a Reservoir Dogs poster on my wall.”
He continued: “I didn’t ever think a Grammy was something I should even dream about. I never in a thousand years would have thought this would be what happened to this movie, but whether it’s the soundtrack or the film itself, it’s rare that a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask me about it. It was a seminal movie for a lot of people at a time in their life when they really needed to see it.”
In the same interview, Braff also revealed that he received praise from another director – notably Steven Spielberg – for the success of the film. The film, starring Braff (who also directed and wrote) alongside Natalie Portman, was a sleeper hit of 2004 and grossed $35million (£27million) at the box office from a budget of just $3million (£2.34million).
Braff went on to reveal that Spielberg sent him a letter after the success of the film.
He explained: “I have a letter from Spielberg. It’s framed on my wall. It was a dream letter to get from one of my heroes saying that he loved the film. I’m paraphrasing, but it was something like, ‘On behalf of so many others, I’d like to welcome you to Hollywood,’ or something like that.”
Earlier this year, it was reported that Tarantino wanted to bring back a number of his classic characters in what was to be his final planned film, The Movie Critic.
The film was meant to be the director’s tenth and last film after he previously vowed to retire after making the film. However, back in April, Deadline Hollywood reported that sources said Tarantino had “simply changed his mind” about making The Movie Critic and that the film had now been scrapped.
Deadline‘s report also noted that Tarantino had re-written the script, and that the film’s production had been delayed due to last year’s writers’ and actors strikes. The Hollywood Reporter claimed that one idea in the script was to bring back characters from Tarantino’s earlier films.
They reported that Tarantino planned to “bring back some of the stars of his earlier work to reprise their iconic characters in ‘movie within a movie’ moments, or to play fictional versions of themselves as the actors who played those characters” creating a Tarantino “meta-verse” of sorts.
Brad Pitt had been attached to The Movie Critic as its lead actor, with rumours of other actors who had in the past worked with Tarantino also starring which would fit in with the idea of the director bringing back previous characters.
Tarantino is now seemingly focusing on an entirely new project for his final film.