Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: The Actor Who Almost Played Charles Manson
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood included many actors and directors from the 1960s, but also an infamous figure from the decade: Charles Manson, and if things had gone as planned, he would have been played by an actor best known for comedic roles. Four years after the release of The Hateful Eight, Quentin Tarantino returned with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which followed the steps of Inglourious Basterds and told an alternate version of real-life events.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood follows actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his best friend and stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), who have worked together for a long time. In the final years of Hollywood’s golden age, Dalton and Booth struggle to remain active and relevant in the ever-changing film industry. Their stories are intertwined with that of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), though she doesn’t really have much screen time. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is set in the late 1960s, and as it’s an alternate version of history, it includes various well-known names from the decade, among those Charles Manson.
The infamous criminal and cult leader was played by Damon Herriman and has a very brief appearance in the film, but long enough to show that his presence was going to be felt through the rest of the story. As it happens with any other film, the casting process for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood wasn’t easy, and Herriman wasn’t the first option to play Charles Manson.
When it was revealed that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood included Tate and Manson, many people were (understandably) upset and found it to be a very problematic decision, but the final product was completely different than what initial reports implied. The film gave Tate a very different ending, and Manson’s family members instead went after Dalton and Booth, but that didn’t go well for the attackers as they knew how to defend themselves. Manson doesn’t even have that much screen time either, appearing only in one scene. As mentioned above, Damon Herriman was in charge if playing Manson, but the team behind Once Upon A Time In Hollywood were originally interested in another actor.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day was asked to audition for the role, as revealed by him on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. Day ended up not showing up for the audition as he didn’t want to see himself as Charles Manson. Instead, Day kept on working on his directorial debut El Tonto, a comedy starring himself, Kate Beckinsale, Jason Sudeikis, and John Malkovich. In an unexpected turn of events, Herriman ended up playing Charles Manson in two different stories: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and season 2 of Mindhunter. Manson’s appearance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood ended up being shorter than expected, which might have been a waste for Day if he was already working on other projects, but ultimately, Manson’s brief screen time only made his presence more menacing, and Herriman’s performance was on point.
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