“There’s no vacation for you, no Elvis Cadillac for Mommy. You get nothing. Because you said that”
(Picture: Getty Images)Quentin Tarantino said that he vowed to never give his mother a “penny” after she belittled his writing as a child – many years later, he kept his promise.
The award-winning director, worth an estimated $120 million, made the revelation on “Billions” co-creator Brian Koppelman’s podcast, The Moment. He opened up about his childhood and the trouble he would get into for writing screenplays instead of doing homework. Tarantino started writing at the age of 12; he claimed that teachers “looked at it as a defiant act of rebellion” that he opted to write over schoolwork.
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director touched on his relationship with his mother, Connie Zastoupil, who reportedly gave birth to Tarantino at 16. He said, “my mom always had a hard time about my scholastic non-ability”, and recalled a time she confronted her son.
“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 and everything. ‘This little ‘writing career’ that you’re doing? That s*** is over!’”
The world-renowned director recalled, “And when she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I was in my head, and I go, ‘OK, lady. When I become a successful writer, you will never see a penny one from my success. There will be no house for you. There’s no vacation for you, no Elvis Cadillac for Mommy. You get nothing. Because you said that.’”
Koppelman asked the 58-year-old, “Did you stick to that?”
He laughed, “Yeah, yeah.”
“I helped her out with a jam with the IRS. But no house. No Cadillac, no house.”
“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.”
