Update: Deadline reveals that Johnson is lining up to play slave owner Spencer “Big Daddy” Bennett who employs the men that sold Django and Broomhilda into slavery.
You gotta hand it to Quentin Tarantino. Nobody knows how to perfectly select a mix of rising newcomers, veteran actors and dudes people just plain forgot about, and with this bit of news, we’re surprised the collaboration hasn’t happened already.
Don Johnson — yes, James Crockett — is the latest to join “Django Unchained” reports Variety. Apparently, it took four months to land the actor whose carefully considered screen roles lately have included parts in “Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star,” “When in Rome” and playing Grandpa Whitey in something called “Glenn Martin DDS.” But of course, Johnson also had a role in Robert Rodriguez‘s “Machete” so he’s no stranger to the kind of pulp world QT dabbles in and enjoys. We’d gather his hesitation might be due to the nature of the part.
While his exact character in “Django Unchained” hasn’t been disclosed, the remaining roles aren’t exactly nice guy parts. He’s either one of the redneck Brittle Brothers, the outlaws who sold off Django and Broomhilda (that’s our guess), or possibly slave owner Spencer “Big Daddy” Bennett (though we think that part has gone to Gerald McRaney).
Either way, it seems QT has been working the DVDs of his fave ’80s shows pretty hard. Still a few roles left to go, most importantly, that of Broomhilda, Django’s wife who sets the story in motion. Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio Christoph Waltz, Samuel L Jackson, Dennis Christopher, Kurt Russell, Laura Cayouette and M.C. Gainey round out the cast. “Django Unchained” arrives on Christmas Day 2012.