Mere curiousity, as Rhames was quite the unknown when "Pulp Fiction" was released in 1994. With only the back of his head shown during the first half of the film, you could only guess as to who that big black guy was talking to Bruce Willis. You'd think: Shaft? Is that Issac Hayes?

But when you finally saw Marcellus get hit by Butch's car, you were thinking, "that ain't Issac Hayes! He's a nobody!"

Of course, by the time "Con Air" came out, Ving Rhames was a household name.

But who decided to hire Ving for the role? Quentin, or the casting director?

Maybe it's been a while, but I could have sworn you see his face before he gets hit by Bruce Willis' car. Am I wrong in remembering that?

As for why he picked him...I would guess because he was bad ass in the role.

Prior to Pulp Fiction he was in Wes Craven's The People Under The Stairs. Since Tarantino is a big B-movie fan he might have made a note to use him, but obviously I'm guessing.

Wasn't he also already on ER as the husband of Benton's sister too?

I could be mistaken, but I thought it was Casualties of War that introduced him to Tarantino.

I'm also pretty sure that you see his face before he gets hit by Butch.

You pretty much see it when he is speaking to Travolta about how to find Butch when he tells one of his cronies to take the manager to the kennel and "sick the dogs on his a$$". He has on sunglasses, but he is visible enough that the audience knows what he looks like when he makes his first full appearance. Interesting thing is that it didn't matter whether or not he was a major name as the character had such a powerful presence on his own.

On a side note, after seeing DareDevil, I think that Rhames would have been a much better Kingpin. Duncan was good, but Rhames' character in Fiction is very close to the comic version of Kingpin IMO.

What about Dave? He had some shades of Marcellus in that.

ER didn't air until the fall of '94, so it was around the same time that Pulp Fiction was released, but filmed after PF.

I thought that when Marcellus was talking to Vincent, all you saw was that big band-aid on the back of his head. No face.

That's the first scene with him, after Butch's fight is when he tells them to sick the dogs on his manager. You see most of his face there.

I thought this thread was gonna be about why Zed chose Marcellus instead of Butch. Nevermind.

Zed choose the inny-menny-minny-moe method, but Zed's certainly not partial to white meat.

You know, I find it funny that for all of Quentin Tarantino's movies, he always had known actors and actresses, but he'd throw in a new face and make them known, in the end.

1992: "Reservoir Dogs"
THE KNOWN:
-Harvey Keitel (very well known)

-Christopher Penn (known in the 1980's as Kevin Bacon's pal in "Footloose")

-Michael Madsen (known from a year earlier as Susan Sarandon's beau in "Thelma & Louise")

THE UNKNOWN:
-Tim Roth
-Steve Buchemi

1994: "Pulp Fiction"
THE KNOWN:
-John Travolta (very well known)

-Samuel L. Jackson (known for Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever")

-Uma Thurman (see in earlier films, but nothing really stand-out until this film)

-Bruce Willis ("Moonlighting" & "DieHard," to name just two)

-Christopher Walken, Rosanna Arquette, Tim Roth (thanks to "Dogs")

-even Zed was known, as he was the villain in "The Mask" with Jim Carrey

THE UNKNOWN:
-Ving Rhames
-Butch's girlfriend Fabianne
-Zed's friend, the owner of the shop of horrors

1997: "Jackie Brown"
Hell, this film had all famous and well known people.

But, here's my point (drum-roll, please)... in the upcoming "Kill Bill," there aren't any known people in this film at all (at least I don't know them). Won't this hurt the film's potential at the box office, despite all the Tarantino fans out there?

Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah (Splash), Michael Madsen, Vivica Fox (Soul Food, ID 4), David (Kung Fu) Carradine, Samuel L. Jackson, Lucy Lui (Charlie's Angels)

Not all household names, but certainly not unknowns...

True. I wasn't aware of those you listed. When I first visited the "Kill Bill" site, I didn't recognize the names there. Maybe I looked too fast.

But, God. I loath Darryl Hannah.