Quentin Tarantino wanted Adam Sandler for ‘Inglourious Basterds’

• ‘Inglourious Basterds’ director claims Adam Sandler was in mind.
• When he wrote the part of Sgt.
• Donny Donowitz and Quentin were interviewed on Bill Maher’s Random podcast.

Quentin Tarantino, the director of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ epic World War II film has long been the subject of allegations about the alleged hiring of Sgt. Donny Donowitz, the movie’s iconic “Bear Jew.”

The Bear Jew appears in some of the movie’s most iconic scenes, such as when he makes a big entrance to a group of Nazis who are being held captive after Brad Pitt’s Lt.

Aldo Raine makes him out to be a legendary Nazi headsmacker. Although Tarantino has never explicitly stated that Eli Roth was never meant to play Donowitz, it has long been assumed that he was originally going to play Adam Sandler.

In a segment of Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, the director at last acknowledged that Sandler was in mind when he was writing the part.

Judd Apatow was also interviewed on the same programme that Tarantino was, which was only fitting since Apatow was the one who denied Tarantino his dream. He referred to his cameo in the Adam Sandler-led comedy as “[Judd and I] met through Adam Sandler during the time when I did Little Nicky.”

He had spent some time hanging out with Sandler and his friends, which had helped him get to know Apatow, Sandler’s former roommate and friend. Sandler and Apatow had been in discussions for Funny People for a while because of their relationship and the star’s prior performances.

Sadly for Tarantino, that took place during the same time period as Inglourious Basterds. I regret not knowing that you were trying to use Sandler at the exact time I was filming Funny People with him for Inglorious Basterds, said Apatow.

Even though Tarantino was ultimately left high and dry, it turned out to be a rewarding and personal undertaking for Apatow and received positive reviews from reviewers and viewers.

Tarantino wasn’t completely out of luck, either. Instead of Sandler, he was able to recruit his close friend Roth to bash Nazis over the head with a baseball bat.

Although Sandler could easily have entered those sequences in Inglourious Basterds, Roth’s portrayal as Donowitz was excellent and played a significant role in the film’s success.

It’s entertaining to imagine Sandler ranting about the Teddy Ballgame after he uses his bat to kill Werner Rachtman (Richard Sammel).

The comedy in that scene is already strong, and Sandler could have added some of his own Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore-inspired humour.

For what it’s worth, Tarantino claimed that Sandler was ecstatic about the part despite the fact that he acknowledged Funny People was a better fit because of the personal connection:

“Obviously, he should’ve done yours because of the whole thing of it. I mean, you start with the f—ing video cassette of you guys as kids. But yeah, the Bear Jew was going to… I wrote the Bear Jew for Adam Sandler. When I was doing Little Nicky, he’s telling me like, ‘Oh man, I get to f—ing beat up Nazis with a bat? F—ing script! F—ing awesome! I can’t f—ing wait! I can’t f—ing wait!’ He was like telling every Jewish guy, ‘I’m going to f—ing play this guy who beats up Nazis with a f—ing bat.”

Although Sandler was his major target, Tarantino also asked Apatow in jest whether he had cast all the top Jewish stars in his film. The director said, “That was the issue. “Seth Rogen and all the good Jews were doing Funny People. I’m killing Hitler with baseball bats and there’s no good Jews available! David Krumholtz, nobody! All the good Jews were all wrapped up! I’m doing the Jewish male fantasy!”

On December 18, the complete podcast episode with Maher, Apatow, and Tarantino will be accessible.

 Inglourious Basterds trailer below:

Also Read

Quentin Tarantino regrets not meeting Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein was almost always mentioned in Quentin Tarantino films. He has...