Press conference interview with Quentin Tarantino, winner in the Original Screenplay category at the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2013.
Q. Ladies and gentlemen please give a huge welcome to the winner of the BAFTA for best written screenplay, Mr Quentin Tarantino. Well well well, Quentin, this is not your first BAFTA rodeo but how does it feel?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Feels pretty good. It was actually funny, I was like -- before I left I had my awards on my shelf and had -- like all the big ones are on one big shelf, and so I was trying to decide, okay, if I win, do I put it next to the other BAFTA or do I put one on one side and do the whole book thing on the other side? I haven't figured it out yet. I have to plan how to figure it out.
Q. I saw you remain in your seat to watch Christoph win best supporting actor. What does he mean to you? What does this relationship that's sprung up over the last few years mean to you?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: He is amazing. I mean it's just we're really lucky to find each other and he just does a magnificent job with my characters and says my dialogue like nobody's business.
Q. Have you started thinking about the next Quentin Tarantino project and might there be a role for Christoph in it?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: I would hope there would be a role for Christoph but I haven't figured out what my next one's going to be yet. I'm waiting for Django to get in my rear view mirror.
Q. Get the BAFTAs sorted out first and then do the next one.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: One thing at a time.
Q. The lady in the second row.
PRESS: This is Bloomberg. Congratulations on your BAFTA. I just wanted to ask you in your current movie and the previous one, Django and Inglourious Basterds, you set out to right the wrongs of history, Nazism and slavery, and I wondered if this important agenda is something that you might want to pursue again in future scripts, trying to rewrite history and go after the bad guys?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: I see what you mean. I think there's something about this that begs a trilogy, you know, kind of three movies that go on this train and then drop it. I don't know what the third one is going to be yet but I wouldn't be surprised.
PRESS: Which of the crimes against humanity are you going to target next?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: I can't go there yet but I wouldn't be surprised.
PRESS: Hi Quentin. Congratulations.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Thanks honey.
PRESS: You have so many famous lines from your movie and I think the most famous one from this one is "the D is silent". How do you come up with these lines? Is it when you are in bed sleeping? When do these lines pop into your head?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Gosh that's a good question. Look, about 75 per cent of them come just out of the material, just come out of I get the characters talking to each other and somebody says something cool or clever. You know it's not even 75, it's about -- it's about 90 per cent. I mean every once in a while there will be some cool line that I'm holding on to for decades hoping that I have just the right movie and the right conversation that I can stick it in and it doesn't happen that often but for the most part though, you know, something, even something like Christoph saying "Oh, on the off-chance that there's any astronomy afficianos amongst you, the north star is that one", it just came out. The reason it works is because he was talking and I was writing and that's just what he said.
PRESS: Inaudible.
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Well the D is silent. That's not my favourite line.
PRESS: Quentin --
Q. I'm afraid we've no more time.
PRESS: From Australia, I just have to ask about your Australian accent mate. Very good effort. Did John Jarratt give you much help?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Yes, my best part of the Australian accent got cut out though, unfortunately. It was just the exposition stuff that was left. John Jarratt had headphones, cans on when I was doing it and he was just giving me pointers, but I cut out my best line though. The one that even explains why the Aussies are there is Django -- they were indentured servants in this situation and Django actually says, he goes:
"So how much you get paid? I mean you work for the LeQuint Dickey Mining Company, don't you? I'm a slave to the LeQuint Dickey Mining Company, I know how much I'm getting paid, how much you getting paid?"
"Look Blacky it doesn't work like that. Say LeQuint Dickey paid our passage from Australia to here and I get a little bit of money and we send them a little back for the boat trip and we pay them back."
"How long you been working for them?"
"About three years."
"And you haven't paid them back yet?"
"No not yet."
Q. Live Quentin Tarantino everybody. Thank you so much, congratulations.
Watch Quentin Tarantino's acceptance speech and backstage interviews >
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Original Screenplay Winner Press Conference Transcript in 2013
