Director Quentin Tarantino’s comedy drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was set in Los Angeles (LA) of 1969 — the golden age of Hollywood. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton who is a television actor and Brad Pitt as stunt double Cliff Booth.
In a recent featurette released on the YouTube channel of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the actors including Margot Robbie, who portrayed Sharon Tate, talked about the period piece and the detailing that went into its making. “It was an absolute complete transformation from the LA that I knew,” DiCaprio says in the video.
Tarantino chose not to use visual effects to recreate that era and instead used practical effects for it. He wanted to work with someone who was born in LA and knew what that period looked like. “He wanted someone who could speak his language,” says the film’s producer David Heyman.
“We shut down Hollywood Boulevard with this film and redid all the store fronts to replicate 1969,” Robbie says. “It was incredible to be immersed in Hollywood Boulevard for four straight blocks,” DiCaprio adds.
Tarantino says they replaced the neon and changed the existing signs that existed during that period. “We were able to let the lights blink again on Hollywood Boulevard,” he says.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood had premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and was released on 26 July in the United States and on 14 August in the United Kingdom. It met with positive critical response and was a box-office success.
Check out the video: