The Cast of Pulp Fiction: Where Are They Now?

John Travolta as Vincent Vega

John Travolta was, of course, already a major star when he was cast as the Francophile hitman Vincent Vega — but his career had taken a bit of a dip before his casting.

Quentin Tarantino wanted Michael Madsen for the role, but when he passed in favor of playing Virgil Earp in Wyatt Earp (1994), the studios insisted Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis be cast instead. According to The Daily Beast, it was the only role Day-Lewis ever actively pursued. But Tarantino had his mind set on Travolta, and the part played a major role in reviving the actor’s career, earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 1995.

“[Pulp Fiction] was epic and it evolved,” Travolta told PEOPLE in April 2024. “The audiences made this movie what it was, and it wasn’t overnight. It took about a year of evolution. In those days, movies stayed in the theaters for a year. So, by the end of the year of it being, it was planetarily epic.”

Travolta followed Pulp Fiction with a hot streak of hits, including the 1995 crime comedy Get Shorty, which earned him a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a motion picture — musical or comedy in 1996. Other notable film credits include: Broken Arrow (1996), Face/Off (1997), Primary Colors (1998), Swordfish (2001), Basic (2003), Be Cool (2005), Wild Hogs (2007), Hairspray (2007), From Paris with Love (2010), Savages (2012), The Forger (2014), Gotti (2018), The Fanatic (2019), Paradise City (2022) and Cash Out (2024).

In 2016, the prolific actor starred in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, receiving Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his performance as attorney Robert Shapiro. He was also featured on the short-lived Quibi series Die Hart, costarring Kevin Hart, in 2020, which was later turned into a movie for Prime Video in 2023.

Travolta was married to actress Kelly Preston from 1991 until her death in July 2020. They had three children — Jett (who died in 2009), Ella Bleu and Benjamin.

Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield

Samuel L. Jackson was one of the few actors Tarantino actually had in mind for the spiritual, no-nonsense hitman while he was writing the screenplay, but the actor nearly blew the opportunity after Paul Calderón upstaged him in an early audition. (Jackson reportedly thought his audition was just a script reading, per The Daily Beast).

But when he auditioned again for what would become the film’s final diner scene, he tried reading the lines completely differently than he had practiced beforehand. Jackson later revealed on the DVD’s special features that Quentin Tarantino and producer Lawrence Bender didn’t know how the movie would end until they saw his take on the scene.

Jackson’s role as Jules Winnfield earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, while Calderón ended up appearing as Mia Wallace’s bartender and assistant.

In the years following Pulp Fiction, Jackson has become one of the most successful actors in Hollywood history, starring as Mace Windu in the Star Wars movie franchise and Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Jackson and Tarantino are also frequent collaborators, with Jackson appearing in the famed director’s Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), Django Unchained (2012) and The Hateful Eight (2015).

“It’s great to know that someone who writes that well and who makes films that well or who has a cinematic love for what we do trusts me with his material. And it makes me want to give him more and work harder for him,” Jackson said of Tarantino to PEOPLE in 2024. “And I think I’ve become a better actor for it, and I think he’s a better filmmaker for our collaborations.”

His other credits include Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Shaft (2000), Unbreakable (2000), The Incredibles (2004), Coach Carter (2005), Snakes on a Plane (2006), The Other Guys (2010), The Samaritan (2012), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015), Kong: Skull Island (2017), The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017), Incredibles 2 (2018), Glass (2019), The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (2021) and Argylle (2024).

Jackson made his Broadway debut in 2011 when he played Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountaintop. He returned to Broadway in 2022 to star in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, which was later turned into a 2024 movie on Netflix. In recognition of his outstanding success in film, Jackson received an honorary Oscar in 2022.

Jackson has been married to actress LaTanya Richardson since 1980, and they share one daughter, Zoe.

Bruce Willis as Butch Coolidge

Bruce Willis was already a movie star when Pulp Fiction hit theaters in 1994, but at the time Quentin Tarantino cast him as Butch Coolidge, he was coming off a series of critical and box office failures (1993’s Striking Distance, anyone?).

Joining Tarantino’s low-budget, off-beat passion project “meant lowering his salary and risking his star status, but the strategy […] paid off royally,” critic Peter Bart later explained in his 1999 book, The Gross. “Pulp Fiction not only brought Willis new respect as an actor, but it also earned him several million dollars as a result of his gross participation,” Bart wrote.

Tarantino originally had real-life former boxer Mickey Rourke in mind for the role, but when Rourke turned it down, the director chose Willis for his old-school physicality. “Bruce has the look of a ’50s actor,” Tarantino explained in a 1994 interview with film critic Manohla Dargis. “I can’t think of any other star that has that look.”

Willis went on to continue his superstar career, starring in The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Sin City (2005), Live Free or Die Hard (2007), Red (2010), Looper (2012), Extraction (2015), Glass (2019), Paradise City (2022) and the Detective Knight series.

However, in 2014, the Emmy-winning actor began taking on smaller roles in several direct-to-video movies, appearing in 11 films in 2022. In March 2022, Willis’ family revealed that he had been diagnosed with aphasia, a degenerative condition that impacts one’s ability to communicate, and would be forced to retire from acting. The following February, his family announced that Willis had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

Willis was married to actress Demi Moore from 1987 to 2000, and they have three daughters — Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. Willis and Moore have maintained a close relationship after their divorce. In 2009, Willis married model Emma Heming, with whom he shares daughters Mabel and Evelyn.

Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace

It’s hard to imagine anyone as Mia Wallace — the failed TV actress and wife of crime lord Marsellus Wallace — besides Uma Thurman, but the film’s studio, Miramax, originally preferred Holly Hunter or Meg Ryan for the iconic role.

Tarantino was sold on Thurman after their first meeting, and the model-turned-actress would go on to become a sort of muse for the director, later starring in his Kill Bill film series, for which Thurman would receive two Golden Globe nominations. And she’s open to any future projects with the director.

“I understand him and if he wrote a great part and we were both in the right place about it, that would be something else,” she told EW in 2018.

In 1995, Thurman earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mia and became an overnight A-list sensation in Hollywood, appearing in the big-budget Batman & Robin (1997) and British spy flick The Avengers (1998). Beyond the Kill Bill franchise, Thurman later starred in the HBO adaptation Hysterical Blindness in 2002, which earned her a Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a miniseries or motion picture made for television. Her other film credits include Paycheck (2003), Be Cool (2005), The Producers (2005), My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006), Motherhood (2009), the Nymphomaniac film series (2013), Red, White & Royal Blue (2023), and The Kill Room (2023).

She also had recurring roles on shows like The Slap, Imposters, Chambers, Suspicion and Super Pumped. In 2012, Thurman received an Emmy nomination for her guest starring role on Smash and made her Broadway debut in The Parisian Woman in 2017.

Thurman shares two children with ex-husband Ethan Hawke, daughter Maya and son Levon. She gave birth to a second daughter, Luna (though her full name is Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson), with her ex-fiancé, French businessman Arpad Busson.

Ving Rhames as Marsellus Wallace

Ving Rhames’ role as Marsellus was originally offered to Sid Haig. When Haig passed, it went to Rhames, who, according to producer Lawrence Bender, gave “one of the best auditions I’ve ever seen.”

His critically acclaimed performance led to his casting in a series of box office hits like Con Air (1997), Out of Sight (1998), Baby Boy (2001), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Animal (2005), Piranha 3D (2010), The River Murders (2011) and the Mission: Impossible film series. He also held voice roles in projects like Disney’s Lilo & Stitch (2002) and its sequels, Wendell & Wild (2022), The Garfield Movie (2024) and The Wild Robot (2024).

Rhames had a recurring role in the first three seasons of ER and won a Golden Globe for playing boxing promoter Don King in the 1997 TV movie Don King: Only in America (famously, Rhames brought fellow nominee Jack Lemmon on stage and gave him the award). He has also provided the voiceover narration for Arby’s commercials since 2014. In addition, Rhames appeared in the 2023 BET+ limited series Legacy.

Rhames has been married to wife, actress Deborah Reed, since 2000. They have three children together: daughter Reign, son Freedom and stepdaughter Tiffany.

Tim Roth as Ringo/”Pumpkin”

Another actor who was cast in the role Quentin Tarantino had originally envisioned for him was Tim Roth, who had already worked with the director in the crime drama Reservoir Dogs.

Dropping the American accent he used in the first Tarantino film in favor of his natural British speaking voice, Roth ended up hanging on to the role that certain studio bosses had reportedly preferred for Johnny Depp or Christian Slater, playing stickup artist Ringo/”Pumpkin.”

In 1995, Roth shared with EW how starring in Pulp Fiction changed his life. “It’s almost impossible for me to go into a diner,” he said. “People look at me oddly. Then they send me a free beer to put me in a good mood.”

Roth earned further recognition working with Tarantino on Four Rooms (1995) and The Hateful Eight. He also received acclaim for his Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated role in the 1995 historical drama Rob Roy, as well as praise for Planet of the Apes (2001), Grace of Monaco (2014), Selma (2014) and Luce (2019).

He starred in and directed The War Zone (1999) and appeared as the supervillain Abomination in The Incredible Hulk (2008). Roth reprised the role in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and on the Disney+ series She Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). He was a series regular on Lie to Me and a recurring character on Tin Star and the 2023 Paramount+ drama Last King of the Cross.

Roth has been married to fashion designer Nikki Butler since 1993. They have two sons, Hunter and Cormac. Cormac died from cancer in October 2022 at the age of 25. Roth also has a son, Jack, from a previous relationship.

Eric Stoltz as Lance

Quentin Tarantino has famously denied rumors that Kurt Cobain was up for the role of Lance, Vince’s drug dealer. He’s also denied that, if Cobain had gotten the part, Courtney Love would have played his on-screen girlfriend Jody, a role ultimately portrayed by Rosanna Arquette.

But Tarantino has admitted that executives wanted Gary Oldman for the part and that Tarantino even considered taking on the role himself. The director ultimately chose to play Jimmie so that he could film Lance’s famous syringe scene himself, according to The Daily Beast.

Instead, the Lance role went to Eric Stoltz, who told PEOPLE in 2024 that Tarantino “created his own mish-mash of genres that surprised people — and Pulp was the first of its kind.”

The actor went on to have a successful career on the big and small screen, appearing in Rob Roy, Jerry Maguire (1996), Anaconda (1997) and The Butterfly Effect (2004). However, he’s been more visible on shows like Mad About You, Chicago Hope, Once and Again, Close to Home, Grey’s Anatomy and Madam Secretary. Since 2001, Stoltz has also directed several episodes of Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Nashville, Glee, Madam Secretary and Bull.

Stoltz married singer Bernadette Moley in 2005.

Rosanna Arquette as Jody

She didn’t have much screen time, but Rosanna Arquette found herself at the center of one of the film’s most iconic moments: the overdose needle scene.

“At the time, we knew we were in there, rehearsing, we’re working with a great director, but didn’t realize how huge it would become,” Arquette told PEOPLE in 2024 of making the movie.

Pam Grier was almost cast for the role, even auctioning for it, but ultimately Quentin Tarantino felt it wouldn’t be realistic for a tough woman like Grier to be pushed around by a wimpy drug dealer boyfriend. (But after her strong audition, Tarantino crafted Jackie Brown with Grier in mind, according to The Daily Beast.)

As for Arquette, she has famously appeared in films and on TV since she was a teenager. Following Pulp Fiction, her credits include Crash (1996), The Whole Nine Yards (2000) and Draft Day (2014). She has also appeared on Will & Grace, The L Word, What About Brian?, Private Practice, Ray Donovan, Sideswiped, Ratched and Big Sky.

Arquette had a daughter, Zoe Bleu, with her third husband, John Sidel. Her fourth husband, Todd Morgan, filed for divorce in 2022. Arquette is the eldest sister of fellow actors Richmond, David and Patricia, along with transgender actress and activist Alexis, who died in 2016 and made a cameo in Pulp Fiction.

Quentin Tarantino as Jimmie

Quentin Tarantino has long enjoyed taking roles, both big and small, in his own films. He’s appeared as high-profile characters in Reservoir Dogs, Grindhouse (2007) and Django Unchained, as well as minor roles like his uncredited voice in Jackie Brown.

After opting not to play the role of Lance, Tarantino decided on Jimmie; the character was originally offered to his former Reservoir Dogs star Steve Buscemi, according to The Daily Beast (Buscemi still appeared in Pulp Fiction as a waiter).

Though he co-directed Four Rooms, Tarantino was the sole writer and director of blockbusters like Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019), the latter of which earned a Golden Globe for best screenplay. He has occasionally appeared in films he hasn’t directed, most notably From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Tarantino has won two Oscars for Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained.

Tarantino married his wife, Daniella, in 2018, and they have two children.

Harvey Keitel as Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe

One of the film’s most memorable characters, Harvey Keitel’s performance as Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe was most likely inspired by his role as Victor “The Cleaner” in 1993’s Point of No Return, in which he played a secret agent specializing in fixing assassination plots gone awry.

Quentin Tarantino wrote the role for Keitel, one of his favorite actors. The two had also worked together on Reservoir Dogs and would team up again for From Dusk Till Dawn and Inglourious Basterds (2009).

They haven’t worked together since Inglourious Basterds, but Keitel told Business Insider in 2021 that “the story is not over,” saying: “What we did when we met can’t be over. It just can’t be over in my mind and in my heart. Even if we never work together again we’ll always be working together in my own mind and heart.”

Keitel has remained busy ever since Pulp Fiction, appearing in films like Clockers (1995), Cop Land (1997), Red Dragon (2002), National Treasure (2004), National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), Little Fockers (2010), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). He also starred on the ABC series Life on Mars and appeared in The Tattooist of Auschwitz. More than 30 years after their last film, Keitel reunited with longtime collaborator Martin Scorsese for 2019’s The Irishman.

Keitel married actress Daphna Kastner in 2001. They have one son, Roman. Keitel has a daughter, Stella, and another son, Hudson, from previous relationships.

Christopher Walken as Captain Koons

Christopher Walken’s few minutes of screen time as Captain Koons, a military man who had served with Butch’s (Bruce Willis) father, is one of the more hilarious (and disgusting) cameos of all time.

In his scene, Walken’s character delivers a young Butch a gold watch that had been in his family for generations. The story of the watch’s journey — from World War I, to World War II, to Vietnam — into Koons’ rectum and ultimately back to Butch is one of the film’s most unforgettable moments.

Of course, Walken was already an Oscar winner for The Deer Hunter (1978) before his Pulp Fiction role. His many films since then include Sleepy Hollow (1999), Catch Me if You Can (2002), Man on Fire (2004), The Stepford Wives (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), Click (2006), Hairspray (2007), Seven Psychopaths (2012), Jersey Boys (2014), Percy (2020) and Dune: Part Two (2024).

He received Tony Award nominations for his roles in the musical James Joyce’s The Dead and the play A Behanding in Spokane. In addition to appearing on The Outlaws, he was also nominated for an Emmy for his supporting performance on the Apple TV+ series Severance. Walken is well-known for his unforgettable appearances on Saturday Night Live and his love of dancing, which he showed off in the 2001 music video for “Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim.

Walken has been married to Georgianne Walken since 1969.