Why Laurence Fishburne Turned Down Pulp Fiction

Laurence Fishburne reveals the reason he turned down the role of Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction was related to the infamous heroin overdose scene. Fishburne was already a well-established Hollywood actor by the early 1990s. He was 14, a fact he had to lie about when he landed his first major movie role as Mr. Clean in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and continued to appear in movies throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was lauded for his performance as Furious, the father of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s protagonist Tre in 1991’s Boyz n The Hood, and became a household name.

As a result of that performance, Fishburne was in demand in Hollywood, including from Quentin Tarantino, who was considering him for the role of Jules in Pulp Fiction. However, the actor ultimately turned the part down. Samuel L. Jackson ended up being cast as the Bible-quoting hitman, leading him to international stardom and a relationship with Tarantino that has lasted to this day. Fishburne’s career didn’t suffer from turning the role down, as he went on to star in The Matrix trilogy, and is still working in popular films and TV to this day, though he surprisingly wasn’t asked to return for The Matrix 4.

Speaking to Vulture, Fishburne has revealed precisely why he chose to turn down the part, and it involves a scene his character wouldn’t have even appeared in. Fishburne says that it was the infamous heroin overdose scene, where Uma Thurman’s Mia Wallace has to be resurrected with a hypodermic needle, that turned him off the movie. Saying it “just wasn’t for him” he credits the way the heroin use was dealt with in the film as a whole didn’t sit well with him, saying it seemed like it made drug use look attractive. You can read his full comments below.

Pulp Fiction wasn’t for me. Quentin wrote that part with me in mind, too, but it wasn’t for me. I just had a problem with the way the heroin use was dealt with. I just felt it was a little cavalier, and it was a little loose. I felt like it made heroin use attractive. For me, it’s not just my character. It’s, “What is the whole thing saying?” …I just was like, “No, I don’t get it as an actor.” It wasn’t about my character in Pulp Fiction. It was about the way in which the heroin thing was delivered. And the whole f_cking thing with the hypodermic and the adrenaline shot? No.

The scene that Fishburne refers to was controversial at the time, with many critics echoing his sentiments, believing that it glorifies hard drug use. In recent years, many have questioned that idea, showing that the chaotic and never-jangling scene proves the opposite – that taking hard drugs is a quickfire way to ruin your life, with Mia almost dying after ingesting just a small amount of heroin.

Fishburne disagreed, but his revelation that he was asked to star in the movie presents an appealing thought. How would Pulp Fiction have differed with Fishburne in the role of Jules? Jackson is undeniably commanding in one of his most iconic characters, and it’s difficult to imagine another actor playing him. Still, if anyone could pull it off in their own way, it would be Fishburne.

Not only is he more physically imposing than Jackson, but he also has his own approach to playing cool characters, which is a little more laidback than Jackson. That combination would have led to a different approach to the role, but not one that would necessarily have been worse. Of course, it’s all speculation, given that Fishburne ultimately turned Tarantino down for the part, but it’s an intriguing possibility that presents an alternate vision of what Pulp Fiction could have been.

Source: Vulture

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Daniel Gillespie
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Daniel Gillespie has been a writer and editor since 2009.

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