While Quentin Tarantino had stated that his currently in production Once Upon A Time In Hollywood would be set in Los Angeles during the summer of 1969 and the Manson Family murders, he never really clarified if the infamous Charles Manson himself would be an active part of the story. We now have an answer to that mystery with the announcement that the writer/director has cast Damon Herriman in the role of the deranged cult leader.
As he has done in the past, Tarantino mixes fiction into his history as Once Upon A Time In Hollywood centers on the fictional TV western star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), next door neighbors to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), the real life actress who was the Manson Family’s most prominent victim.
Other recent casting also blends fictional and real personages. Costa Ronin has been cast as another of the Manson Family’s victims, Polish actor Voytek Frykowski, while Rumer Willis has been cast as British actress Joanna Pettet and Drema Walker will appear as singer/actress Connie Stevens. On the fictional side, Margaret Qualley has just been cast as a character named Kitty Kat, Madisen beaty will be playing Katie and Victoria Pedretti has been cast as Lulu.
Tarantino has lined up a pretty impressive cast for the film even by his standards with Al Pacino, Lena Dunham, Maya Hawke, Timothy Olyphant, Burt Reynolds, Damian Lewis, Luke Perry, Dakota Fanning, James Marsden, Clifton Collins, Keith Jefferson, Emile Hirsch, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Scoot McNairy and Nicholas Hammond scheduled to appear.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is slated for a July 26, 2019 release.
