Quentin Tarantino once said he would retire after his tenth film. But before that milestone arrives, the legendary director is doing something fans never expected. He’s stepping in front of the camera again. The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is taking a rare acting role in the upcoming drama Only What We Carry.
The film, announced in October 2025, comes from writer-director Jamie Adams and stars Simon Pegg and Sofia Boutella. It marks Tarantino’s first substantial acting part in three decades, since his turn as Richie Gecko in Robert Rodriguez’s cult hit From Dusk till Dawn, which he also wrote. Since then, he’s mostly appeared in quick cameos — from Little Nicky to Death Proof to Django Unchained. But this project signals something deeper. Why now? Why this film?
Only What We Carry is currently in post-production and takes place in Normandy, France — better known as the site of D-Day, where history’s tide literally turned. The story centers on Julian Johns, a once-famous Moulin Rouge artistic director whose quiet life collapses when a woman named Charlotte Levant tracks him down after reading about him in the news. When she shows up, the two must face buried pain and uncomfortable truths. Simon Pegg plays Julian. Sofia Boutella takes on Charlotte. Tarantino’s character, John Percy, serves as Julian’s publisher, living at the same château where the story unfolds. Charlotte Gainsbourg portrays Charlotte’s protective sister. You can almost imagine the fireworks between these characters already.
The producers seem convinced this isn’t your average drama. Laura Auclair praised the “five-star cast.” And Alan Ganansia, one of the executive producers, recalled how the unconventional process shaped something extraordinary. “I came onto the project believing in the team, though at first the process felt abstract, improvisation, no traditional script, a lot of unknowns. But once I was on set, it all clicked. There was a rare, natural energy, nothing forced or over-engineered. What could have been chaotic became incredibly focused. Watching the film reveal itself in real time was honestly magical, and it confirmed we were part of something truly special.”
If Ganansia is right, Only What We Carry might be more than another art-house experiment. It could be Tarantino’s most surprising move yet — a quiet performance instead of a bloody spectacle. Maybe that’s what makes it so intriguing. Could this unexpected return to acting tell us more about what the director has left to say before he walks away from Hollywood for good?
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English (US) · 