Quentin Tarantino has been adding an impressive number of notable names to the cast of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood over the last few months, but we've been anticipating the announcement for one character in particular. We've known that Charles Manson was going to be a part of the film ever since Margot Robbie was first announced playing model/actress Sharon Tate, and we've simply been waiting for Tarantino's announcement about who will play the role. Now that news is out, and the part has gone to Justified and Incorporated star Damon Herriman.
News of the casting comes to us from The Wrap, though there isn't much featured in regards to what we can expect from the size of Herriman's role in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. He joins an absolutely stacked cast, which is headlined by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, but also includes Dakota Fanning, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, James Marsden, Emile Hirsch, Lena Dunham, Mike Moh, Burt Reynolds, Damian Lewis, and more. Hailing from Australia, Damon Herriman's work has mostly been on the small screen to date, and this will definitely be the biggest production of which he's ever been a part.
As though that list weren't long enough, however, the trade report notes that Damon Herriman isn't the only new actor to be joining the massive ensemble - some playing fictional characters, others playing real individuals. On the non-fiction side, Rumer Willis (Empire) will be playing actress Joanna Pettet; Dreama Walker (Compliance, Don't Trust The B* In Apt 23) will portray singer Connie Stevens; and Costa Ronin (The Americans) will portray actor Voytek Frykowski. Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys), Madisen Beaty (The Fosters) and newcomer Victoria Pedretti will play Kitty Kit, Katie and Lulu, respectively - all of whom come from Quentin Tarantino's imagination.
The upcoming film is set in the year 1969 and primarily will follow the story of TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his best friend/stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). While they used to be big, their stars are fading, and Hollywood is slowly beginning to look unrecognizable to them. Their fortunes seem to turn when they discover that Sharon Tate is their new neighbor... but anyone familiar with real world events knows that there isn't much of a happy ending there. That being said, it's unclear exactly how the film will treat the actual events - and Quentin Tarantino has been known to alter history (in case you didn't know, Adolf Hitler didn't die in a burning movie theater being shot in the face hundreds of times by a furious American soldier, as portrayed in Inglorious Basterds).
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is currently shooting in Los Angeles, and Sony Pictures has plans to have the movie out in a little less than a year from now - specifically on July 26, 2019.
