I spent four years in film school, so let me tell you one definitive thing I learned during that period of my life: making a movie can prove to be a long and grueling process. After a strenuous shoot sometimes all you want to do is close your eyes and get some rest. If you ever find yourself on a film set, try to fight that urge. For one thing it’s incredibly unprofessional, and if you’re on one of Quentin Tarantino’s sets, you will receive an even worse form of embarrassment.
Frequent Tarantino collaborator Tim Roth recently opened up to EW about the director’s tactics for shaming those who fall asleep on his set:
If you fall asleep on set, the camera crew are ready for you. They’ve got Big Jerry in a bag. Big Jerry is a dildo that’s about that big. It’s purple, I think. If you fall asleep, they put it into photographs with you and you go on a Board of Shame.
I don’t know about you, but I am suddenly full of conflicting desires. Part of me desperately wants to go watch a Quentin Tarantino film be made so I can witness the awesome dildo prank that is "Big Jerry," while part of me never wants to go anywhere near one of these sets for fear that I might end up on the "Board of Shame." Tim Roth elaborated further that there’s no point in fighting the shaming process when it comes to Big Jerry, because if you take the photo down off of the board they simply will put another one up that’s even bigger. He also shared rumors that, on the set of Django Unchained, one crewmember’s anger over the photo led to the rest of the crew wear shirts with the photo plastered on the front.
Based on everything we know about Quentin Tarantino, none of these hilarious frat house antics seem the least bit surprising. He has always been known for being something of a control freak on his sets. For example, we only recently reported that he doesn’t allow a single cell phone on any of his live sets. When you walk onto the premises, your phone is collected, and if you need to make a call you retrieve it and leave. The presence of Big Jerry on his set also makes a great deal of sense when we think about the conversation the characters from Reservoir Dogs have at the beginning of the film about Madonna's "Like A Virgin."
As odd as Tarantino’s methods are, we cannot argue with his results. After getting behind the camera for eight features he has yet to produce a bad film, so there has to be something to the way he conducts business. Also, knowing about Big Jerry definitely makes certain scenes from The Hateful Eight feel a little different in retrospect. That film is in theaters now so be sure to check it out.
