Samuel L. Jackson discusses a scene fromDjango Unchainedthat was cut because Quentin Tarantino thought it went too far.Django Unchained’s castfeatures Jackson in the role of Stephen Warren, a slave loyal to the ruthless plantation and slave owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).The frequent use of racial slurs and cartoonish violence generated controversythat pushed the boundaries even further than usual in many of Tarantino’s other movies.
While speaking withGQ,Jackson reveals that a scene between Stephen and Django Freeman (Jamie Foxx) was cutbecause even Tarantino felt it pushed the boundaries of what Jackson’s character could do. Jackson breaks down what happened between Stephen and Django in the deleted scene and how it affects the dynamic between the two characters. He explains that Tarantino thought the scene made Stephen too evil and worried about the real-life backlash this could create for Jackson. Read Jackson’s comments below:
Jamie and I had a scene in the house when I took Christoph to his room when they first get there. When I take him in the room, when I tell him, “You do what you wanna do in this room because we burn everything up and throw it away anyway.” And he slaps me, he slaps me down, threatens to strip me naked and whip me all over the plantation. Calvin ain’t gonna let you do that. That’s the setup between me and him that they didn’t use in the movie. So by the time we get to the point where he’s hanging upside down in that barn, I had a whole speech that’s kind of not there while I tell him, I’ve been on this plantation for X number of years and seen this, that and the other, done all these slaves around here, and nobody will put their hands on me til' you.
And then I start using that hot poker to burn parts of his body. Of course, [Quentin Tarantino was] like, “I don’t want nobody to kill you. I mean you evil enough, we keep that st in the movie, people are gonna hate you. Something will happen and I’ll be responsible.” It’s like, “Come on man, you backing out of your own st. This is your s**t and you don’t wanna do it. I’m willing. I’m here to do it. This is the story, let’s get it.” I always thought he was gonna put a director’s cut out and keep it because we did shoot it.
What This Means For Django Unchained
The Deleted Scene Intensifies What Is Already Known About Stephen
Based on the details that Jackson provided,the deleted scene adds further tension and animosity between Django and Stephen and makes Stephen even more despicable. This does not change the relationship between Django and Stephen, as there is still plenty of tension and animosity between them in the final version of the movie, which culminates in leaving Stephen for dead duringDjango Unchained’s ending. It does add further context to their dynamic, though, giving Django even more reason to hate Stephen.
Django Unchained: Django’s 14 Greatest Quotes
Django Unchained is some of Quentin Tarantino’s best work, and it provided a lot of powerful and hilariously memorable quotes.
Tarantino’s best movieshave few qualms when it comes to violence, but even he recognized that there can be a limit to what needs to be shown. He and Jackson had worked closely together on several movies beforeDjango Unchained, includingPulp FictionandJackie Brown, with their relationship impacting his decision tocut the scene in order to protect Jackson from potential backlash. While Jackson was open to keeping the scene in, Tarantino prioritized doing what he thought was best for his friend and frequent collaborator.
Our Take On The Deleted Scene
It Did Not Need To Be Included
The scene fundamentally does not change anything between Django and Stephen and only heightens what is already present between them. Given the movie’s abundance of racial slurs and graphic violence, it is intriguing to see where Tarantino decided to draw the line. Since it does not change much in the actual story ofDjango Unchained, it makes sense that Tarantino never released aDjango Unchaineddirector’s cut with this scene, despite Jackson believing that it should have been kept in.
Django Unchained
Cast
Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained follows Jamie Foxx’s Django, a Black slave who is freed before becoming a bounty hunter. After meeting German dentist-turned-bounty-hunter Dr. King Schultz, Django sets off to free his wife from the cruel and charismatic plantation owner Calvin Candie. Christophe Waltz stars alongside Foxx, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kerry Washington rounding out the cast of Tarantino’s revisionist Spaghetti Western.
