Quentin Tarantino on living the literary life
Quentin Tarantino has earned two Academy Awards and made some of the most talked-about films of his generation. Now, he opens up about fatherhood, filmmaking and his new novel in an interview with correspondent Tracy Smith for “CBS Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast July 4.
Tarantino, best known for writing and directing such films as “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” “Django Unchained,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “Reservoir Dogs,” is now a married man with a 16-month-old son. He’s also just released his first novel, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” inspired by the film of the same name.
When asked about his new career as a novelist, Tarantino told Smith, “Well, one nice thing is: I spend a lotta time writing my scripts. And then when I’m done, now I got to go make the movie! And now I got to cast it, and we got to go look for locations, and then we go to another place where I go live and we spend six months doing that. And it’s like this whole process. You know, it’s a fun process. And it’s a wonderful way to live a life. I’m not making it sound like it’s a bad thing. I’m very fortunate to have the situation to do that. But the idea of putting your heart and soul into a piece of writing, and then when you’re done, you’re done? That’s, that’s amazing.”
To watch a preview of Tracy Smith’s interview with Quentin Tarantino, click on the video player below:
Smith also talked with Tarantino about his films, his career, his future and his family life.
In a 2009 interview with “CBS Sunday Morning,” Tarantino said he was focused on his movies. What changed? “Well, the woman I met changed it, Daniella Pick,” he said. “All right, I met her. And we, we fell in love. And we had – have – a wonderful relationship. And she wanted to get married. And I did, too. And so, I married.”
Tarantino said marriage takes nothing away from his love of films and filmmaking. The couple split their time between Los Angeles and her native Israel.
Just the mention of their son, Leo brings tears to Tarantino’s eyes: “If I talk about it too much, I’m already going to start crying if I talk about it, too. I can’t even see his name written on a piece of paper without crying.”
“It’s just, he’s my little Leo. He’s my little lion. And I just see his name, L-E-O, written down isolated. And it just, when it comes to him, he’s just the most charming human being I’ve ever met in my life.”
The Emmy Award-winning “Sunday Morning” is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9 a.m. ET. “Sunday Morning” also streams on CBSN [beginning at 9 a.m. ET and 11:30 a.m. ET] and Paramount+, and is available on cbs.com and cbsnews.com.
Be sure to follow us at cbssundaymorning.com, and on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
