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Jeffrey Dean Morgan reveals that Quentin Tarantino cast him as Mr. Brown in Reservoir Dogs before stealing the role for himself
Jeffrey Dean Morgan was almost Mr. Brown in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, but the director changed his mind and took the role for himself
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Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been a part of some amazing projects. He was a family patriarch in Supernatural, a sociopathic superhero in Watchmen, and a murderous tyrant on The Walking Dead. However, Jeffrey Dean Morgan will never forget one project that slipped through his fingers. Morgan was given the opportunity to audition for Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, and the actor was immediately impressed by the script.
“That was the coolest script anybody had ever read, at my age at that time. Everybody wanted it,” Jeffrey Dean Morgan told Josh Horowitz during an episode of Happy Sad Confused.
“I remember going in for [casting director] Ronnie Yeskel, and then they brought me back and Quentin was there, and we didn’t know who Quentin was, but he had written this brilliant fucking script and everybody in town was talking about it,” he continued. “I remember I did the scene and he was like very excited, leaning forward in his chair, doing this whole thing. I want to say that I read Mr. Orange sides.”
Morgan went on, “[Tarantino] pulled me into this tiny little closet in [Yeskel’s] office, like a coat closet. And I remember getting banged with coats. He closes the door and it’s just him and I. And I can’t see him. It’s total darkness, and he’s right here. And I could remember I could smell him, and he’s giving me directions, and he’s real excited. And I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god. I’m going to get this motherfucker.’ I felt his excitement.
“I went out and did the scene again, and I didn’t hear anything for a bit, and then I got a call from Ronnie Yescoll, and she was like, ‘Okay, yeah, looks like you’re doing Mr. Brown.’ And I’m looking at the script, and he’s not in it very much, but fuck it’s still a great script. It doesn’t matter. Anything.”
However, if you’ve seen Reservoir Dogs, then you know that the director ultimately played the role himself. Morgan doesn’t hold it against Tarantino, chalking it up to show business. “I remember when I found out. I got the call that I wasn’t going to be in it, and it was Quentin doing it, and I was just like, ‘Oh.’ I mean, you can’t get mad. It’s like, what are you going to do?”
Reservoir Dogs is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Don’t look for Jeffrey Dean Morgan in it.
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