Quentin Tarantino: His 5 Best & 5 Worst Acting Roles, Ranked

Quentin Tarantino is often considered one of the best Hollywood directors of all time. Most of his films are usually top contenders during award season. However, when it comes to acting, things aren’t always so certain for him. He has just as many bad performances as he has good ones.

Tarantino has 27 acting credits to his name, compared to 9 for directing. He also enjoys casting himself in his own movies from time to time. The director has often reiterated that he plans to retire after directing his tenth film. Perhaps he’ll continue acting? Here are his best and worst acting roles.

10 Best: Death Proof

Death Proof is the only horror film in Quentin Tarantino’s catalog as a director and even though it performed poorly at the box office, critics loved it. The movie follows a serial killer named Stuntman Mike who enjoys crashing into cars driven by young women with his own safe stunt-proofed car, thus killing them instantly.

Tarantino played Warenm a bartender working at the Texas Chili Parlor. He came off as a talkative character with witty quotes such as: “Is that a tasty beverage or is that a tasty beverage?” A keen viewer might notice that Warren drinks his whiskey shot in the same manner that Tarantino’s character Seth Gecko drinks his in From Dusk Till Dawn. 

9 Worst: Girl 6

Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee don’t see eye to eye. However, back in the ’90s, they worked together in Lee’s comedy film Girl 6. Tarantino appeared in the film as QT, a no-nonsense Hollywood director making a modern blaxploitation flick. QT tries to take advantage of the film’s main character Judy.

In the movie, Judy, a struggling actress decides to take a job as a phone sex operator in New York City in order to pay her bills after becoming too frustrated with her slow progress in the film industry. She ends up becoming too personal with the clients and this proves to be detrimental to her career.

8 Best: Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is often regarded as Quentin Tarantino’s directorial masterpiece. But he had a great performance as an actor in it too. The movie follows two hitmen named Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) who try to retrieve a suitcase that was stolen from their boss Marsellus (Ving Rhames). Tarantino plays a supporting character named Jimmie Dimmick.

Jimmie first appears in the movie when he assists Jules and Vincent in disposing of the body of a man they had killed. He is also said to be related to Mr. White from Reservoir Dogs. Jimmie’s character is memorable for his witty quotes.

7 Worst: Destiny Turns On The Radio

Tarantino played Johnny Destiny, a supernatural man who keeps appearing in other characters’ lives. The comedy film has a 17% score on Rotten Tomatoes. To get a sense of how unimpressive Destiny Turns On The Radio was, Rysher Entertainment opted not to release it on DVD and Blu Ray when VHS tapes ceased to be produced.

The plot? a bank robber who is on the run gets rescued by Johnny Destiny who takes him to a Las Vegas hotel owned by his partner in crime. The robber discovers that his girlfriend is pregnant and living with a mobster. Unknown to him, Destiny has also taken the money that he robbed from the bank yet he’s pretending to be friendly.

6 Best: Desperado

Desperado starred Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi, a singer and gunslinger who goes on a mission to hunt down the drug lord that killed his lover. The film was a huge hit upon its release and is often regarded as one of the best action films of the 90s.

Quentin Tarantino played a man named Pick-Up Guy (yes, that was his name). Even though his performance was brief, it’s very memorable because he ends up telling the best joke of the movie when he enters a bar. Pick-Up Guy later gets killed after being mistaken for a traitor.

5 Worst: All American Girl

Comedian Margaret Cho’s short-lived ABC sitcom All American Girl had an episode with Quentin Tarantino. It should have been a monumental moment since Pulp Fiction had just dropped in theaters but it ended up being a forgettable one.

Apparently, Tarantino agreed to appear in the sitcom as a favor to Cho because the two were great friends. Tarantino played a VHS tape supplier named Desmond and ended up making culturally insensitive jokes about Asians that didn’t age well.

4 Best: Reservoir Dogs

Reservoir Dogs follows a group of eight robbers who plan a jewelry heist but it goes terribly wrong. The movie which is also directed by Tarantino shows events that occur before and after the failed heist. All the man characters in the movie are named after colors.

Tarantino plays Mr. Brown, a robber who was hired by an elderly mob boss. In the events before the robbery, Mr. Brown is seen talking about Madonna with the other robbers at a diner. In the events after the robbery, Mr. Brown is shot in the head by a police officer and still manages to drive away before dying.

3 Worst: Four Rooms

Four Rooms received terrible reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a score of 16%. The movie follows a hotel bellboy named Ted (Tim Roth) who is new on the job. On New Year’s Eve, Ted gets overwhelmed by the wild guests occupying four different rooms.

In one of the rooms, there are witches casting spells. In another room, a violent husband is holding his wife captive. In a third room, a gangster has ordered Ted to watch after his mischievous kids. And in the fourth room, there is a full-of-himself Hollywood actor portrayed by Tarantino. The actor happens to be throwing a noisy party.

2 Best: From Dusk Till Dawn

Quentin Tarantino starred alongside George Clooney in this horror film directed by his best friend Robert Rodriguez. In the movie, Tarantino plays Richie Gecko, one-half of the Gecko Brothers who commit a couple of violent robberies before deciding to flee to Mexico to enjoy the spoils.

While on their way to Mexico, they decide to stop by a bar to have a drink. It soon dawns on them that this is not an ordinary bar. Everyone in there turns out to be a vampire and the Gecko Brothers must find a way to survive and possibly escape from the place.

1 Worst: Little Nicky

This Tarantino role was a huge WTF moment when it happened. After staying off the screen for most of the late ’90s, the directly popped in an Adam Sandler film, to the surprise of audiences. Tarantino gave an extremely exaggerated performance as a Southern preacher whose life gets turned upside down after meeting Little Nicky (Adam Sandler).

In the comedy film, Nicky is one of Satan’s three sons who attempts to save dad from his two brothers who want to stage a coup and take over the earth The movie was nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay at the Golden Raspberry Awards.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1216 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

More From Philip Etemesi