Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: 10 Best Supporting Characters

Quentin Tarantino’s sun-drenched ‘60s-set opus Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is anchored by a trio of compelling lead characters: Leonardo DiCaprio as fading TV cowboy Rick Dalton, an Oscar-winning Brad Pitt as his out-of-work stunt double Cliff Booth, and Margot Robbie as an alternate-history version of Sharon Tate.

But those three leads are backed up by a bunch of memorable supporting players. From veteran talent agent Marvin Schwarz to precocious child actor Trudi Fraser, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has many great supporting characters.

10 James Stacy

Timothy Olyphant plays real-life actor James Stacy, the star of Lancer, opposite Rick when he guest-stars in a fictionalized version of the pilot episode. Whereas Rick is relegated to guest spots on other people’s shows, Stacy’s first major starring vehicle is about to make him a big name.

Naturally, Rick goes into his working relationship with Stacy with a chip on his shoulder – and then Stacy asks Rick about his most famous “lost role,” the Steve McQueen part in The Great Escape.

9 Randy Lloyd

After playing major roles in Death Proof and The Hateful Eight, Kurt Russell reunited with Tarantino for a dual role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In addition to providing occasional voiceover narration, Russell hilariously cameos as stunt coordinator Randy Lloyd in a couple of flashbacks.

Randy reluctantly hires Cliff to do Green Hornet stunt work as a favor to Rick – against the wishes of his wife, Janet – which turns out to be a huge mistake when Cliff throws the series lead into the side of Janet’s car.

8 Marvin Schwarz

It’s not easy to make exposition compelling, but trust Al Pacino to make a whole scene of exposition work. Early on in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Rick meets with legendary talent agent Marvin Schwarz for a lunch and learns that he’s a has-been that the networks are slowly turning into a villain in the audience’s eyes.

Pacino is burdened with filling in the audience on Rick’s filmography, the state of his career, and the wider context of a changing Hollywood – and, with one of his most delightfully eccentric turns, the actor nails it.

7 Sam Wanamaker

Sound of Music and Amazing Spider-Man star Nicholas Hammond makes an unforgettable cameo appearance as Sam Wanamaker, the director of the Lancer pilot, in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Lancer is more or less a standard western series, but Hammond’s Wanamaker is an Ed Wood-style wannabe auteur who believes he’s creating profound art. Wanamaker wants Rick to disappear into the one-note role of Caleb and demands a westernized take on the Hamlet “tragic hero” archetype.

6 Janet Lloyd

Kurt Russell is hysterically deadpan as Randy, but Zoë Bell gives an even more hilarious turn as his furious wife, Janet, who’s much less patient with Cliff. Despite only appearing in one scene, Janet is one of the funniest characters in the movie.

Since Bell did stunt work on Kill Bill before joining Tarantino’s regular company of actors, there’s a fun meta angle to her casting as a stunt coordinator in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

5 Bruce Lee

Easily the most controversial portrayal of a real-life figure in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was Mike Moh’s turn as Bruce Lee. Fans of the real Lee were outraged by Tarantino’s portrayal of the iconic martial artist as a brash, arrogant loudmouth.

But taken as a satirical, fictionalized version of Lee in the Tarantino-verse and not an accurate portrait of a screen legend, this Bruce Lee is a really fun character.

4 Pussycat

Although the trailers implied they’d be featured heavily, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood relegates most of its Manson Family characters to bit parts. They’re background extras in the Spahn Ranch sequence and the Cielo Drive killers are dispatched pretty quickly by Cliff and Brandy.

Margaret Qualley plays the Manson Family member with the most screen time, “Pussycat,” who strikes up a flirtatious back-and-forth with Cliff as she hitches a ride back to the ranch. Qualley’s line deliveries are spot-on, from “Talk about a bring down bummer, dude,” to “GEORGE ISN’T BLIND! YOU’RE THE BLIND ONE!!!”

3 The Narrator

On top of playing Randy in the flashback to the Green Hornet set, Kurt Russell provides the voiceover narration for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. “Show, don’t tell” is the most ideal way to tell stories, but sometimes telling is a lot quicker and easier.

As one of the last remaining stars from that era who worked with some of the screen icons depicted in the film, Russell was the perfect choice for the omniscient narrator keeping the audience in the loop.

2 George Spahn

George Spahn is the centerpiece of the most suspenseful set-piece in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. When Cliff arrives on Spahn Ranch and finds a bunch of suspicious hippies gatekeeping the owner, he’s determined to make sure George is all right before he leaves – and, lo and behold, George is fine.

According to IndieWire, the role was originally supposed to be played by Burt Reynolds. Reynolds attended a few table reads but sadly passed away before production, so the role was filled by fellow screen legend Bruce Dern, who knocked it out of the park in Reynolds’ honor.

1 Trudi Fraser

The most memorable supporting player in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is Julia Butters as Rick’s prodigious young Lancer co-star Trudi Fraser. With a couple of heartfelt conversations, Trudi reinvigorates Rick’s passion for acting. Butters nails the deadpan delivery of lines like, “I don’t like names like ‘pumpkin puss,’ but since you’re upset, we’ll talk about it some other time.”

A poignant phone call between Rick and Trudi was cut from the final movie, but Tarantino restored it as one of the many changes in his bestselling novelization.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3465 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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