Did Quentin Tarantino have any idea how far his shady comments about Paul Dano, Owen Wilson, and Matthew Lillard would echo? It’s hard to say. What is certain is that a huge swath of Hollywood has declared their allegiance to the actors and spoken out about what awesome, good guys they are, which was a dizzying experience in and of itself, as Lillard now reflects. In fact, “It was like living through your own wake,” as he says in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Shortly after Tarantino’s comments went viral, Lillard said, “that hurts your feelings. It fuckin’ sucks. And you wouldn’t say that to Tom Cruise. You wouldn’t say that to somebody who’s a top-line actor in Hollywood.” The subsequent outpouring of support was the opposite of that experience. “All those R.I.P. emails or tweets and Instagram posts and TikToks, all of the things we see after somebody passes are so sweet. And the reality is I just got to live through all of it firsthand — alive and kicking!” he says now. “I can’t imagine a more lovely reaction to what happened.”
Though Lillard already had a bunch of projects lined up, like a return to the Scream franchise and a role in Daredevil: Born Again, the attention also brought new, profitable opportunities, like a gig in a Ryan Reynold Mint Mobile ad. “It was crazy. I keep showing it to my wife to convince her that I am worthy, that people still like me. I am a piece of ass!” he quips now. “Nobody has to like me,” he acknowledges. “Nobody has to like any actor out there, obviously. It’s personal preference. I am not everyone’s first choice, that is obvious, but to then have that kind of reaction was beautiful.”