After Quentin Tarantino openly disparaged Matthew Lillard and actors like Paul Dano and Owen Wilson last year, he told Entertainment Weekly that it was “beautiful” to see fans and prominent figures in the film industry come to his aid. Last November, Tarantino called Dano “the weakest fucking actor in SAG.”
In response to Tarantino’s remarks, Lillard offered accolades to his career on social media, saying, “It was like living through your own wake. All those R.I.P. emails or tweets and Instagram posts and TikToks, all of the things we see after somebody passes, are so sweet. And the reality is I just got to live through all of it firsthand — alive and kicking! I can’t imagine a more lovely reaction to what happened.”
“It was crazy. I keep showing it to my wife to convince her that I am worthy, that people still like me,” Lillard added. “Nobody has to like me. Nobody has to like any actor out there, obviously. It’s personal preference. I am not everyone’s first choice, that is obvious, but to then have that kind of reaction was beautiful.”
After Tarantino’s remarks went viral, several of Lillard’s former Hollywood associates supported him on social media. Lillard was dubbed “the goddamn greatest” by Mike Flanagan, who supervised the actor in “The Life of Chuck” and cast him in the impending “Carrie” series remake.
Lillard was “one of my favorite guys (and actors)” according to James Gunn, who collaborated with him on the “Scooby Doo” films. Recently, George Clooney got a medal from AARP and declared that he “would be honored to work with” any of the people Tarantino disparaged.
