He’s arguably one of the most famous filmmakers in the world, but it seems Quentin Tarantino‘s mother, Connie McHugh, was sceptical of his talents — and has subsequently paid the price.
Speaking on The Moment podcast, the Pulp Fiction director explained that he vowed to never give his mother “a penny” after she criticised his writing when he was a young child.
Revealing that his mum had gotten on his case about spending too much time writing scripts and not enough time focusing on his school studies, Tarantino said, “She was bitching at me about that and then, in the middle of her little tirade, she said, ‘Oh and by the way, this little writing career?’ — with the finger quotes — ‘this little writing career that you’re doing?
“That shit is f—king over!’ She just meant don’t do it in class when you’re supposed to be doing something else.”
However, the air quotes were enough to get the Oscar-winner seething and he decided there and then that she would never reap the benefits of his eventual success.
“When she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I was in my head and I go: ‘Okay, lady. When I become a successful writer, you will never see penny one from my success. There will be no house for you. There’s no vacation for you; no Elvis Cadillac for mummy. You get nothing because you said that.’”
True to his word, the Kill Bill filmmaker has not spoiled his mum the way so many celebrities do when they make it big.
“I helped her out of a jam with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), but no house! No Cadillac,” Tarantino told host Brian Koppelman.
The screenwriter and director is worth an estimated USD $120 million.
“There are consequences for your words as you deal with your children! Remember: There are consequences for your sarcastic tone about what’s meaningful to them.”
Tarantino has won two Academy Awards over the course of his career, both for Best Original Screenplay. He took home the trophy first in 1995 for Pulp Fiction and again in 2013 for Django Unchained. He has been nominated for one of the prestigious awards six times.
So the lesson here is: believe in your kids, because they may grow up to be really petty.
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.