Award Category Fraud: Uma Thurman was nominated as a leading actress at the 1994 BAFTAs, even though she's only a major character in one of the film's three stories with nothing more than very brief cameos in the other two. This is especially noticeable given Samuel L. Jackson won supporting actor at the BAFTAs for a larger role than Thurman's. At all other award ceremonies, she was considered a supporting actress.
Blooper: During the apartment scene (specifically the return to the scene at the end of the film), for one shot before the 4th man comes running out of the bathroom to shoot Jules and Vincent, there is a shot of the two standing together and you can clearly see bullet holes on the wall behind them, even though they haven't been shot at yet (and said wall was clear of bullet holes earlier on).
Jules Winnfield's famous hamburger speech is often misquoted (by putting words or phrases in the wrong order), or quoted correctly but used in the wrong context:
Jules: What country you from?! Brett: W-what? Jules: "What" ain't no country I ever heard of! They speak English in What? Brett: ...what? Jules: ENGLISH, MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!
The last line is often misquoted as "English, do you speak it, motherfucker?" In context, Jules is sarcastically demanding that Brett give him a clearer answer than "what," but the line is often used in real life against people who are literally not speaking English well or at all.
Jules's mangling of "Ezekiel 25:17" is actually a misquote of the introduction to Sonny Chiba'sThe Bodyguard, from which this passage is lifted almost exactly. The use in The Bodyguard is itself a misquote of the Bible, translations and mistranslations aside.
In an example that's made its way into a trope name, Vincent never actually says I Just Shot Marvin in the Face, only "Aw man... I shot Marvin in the face..." with no "just."
Tim Roth was considered for Vincent Vega before being cast as Ringo. Bruce Willis was briefly interested before being cast as Butch Coolidge.
John Travolta was considered for Winston Wolfe before being cast as Vincent Vega.
Samuel L. Jackson was considered for Marcellus Wallace, Lance, Captain Koons, and Winston Wolfe before being cast as Jules Winnfield.
Uma Thurman was considered for Honey Bunny before being cast as Mia Wallace.
Rosanna Arquette was considered for Mia before being cast as Jody.
Eric Stoltz was considered for Ringo before being cast as Lance.
Tarantino had written the role of Jimmie with Steve Buscemi in mind, but Buscemi had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. Tarantino himself ended up filling the role, and Buscemi was given a cameo appearance as the Buddy Holly waiter at Jackrabbit Slim's.
Phil LaMarr read for Jules Winnfield and Brett before being cast as Marvin.
Paul Calderón was almost cast as Jules after a great audition. He got the smaller role of Paul in the end.
The scene where Vincent buys heroin from Lance was longer, and Lance delivered a monologue about being given wrong directions and complaining about how rude people are.
Before leaving to have dinner at Jackrabbit Slim's, Mia interviews Vincent while shooting with a hand-held video camera. Mia asks Vincent if he's related to folk singer Suzanne Vega, and then proceeds with a series of trivia-like questions on his personal media preferences (The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family?) and asks him if he's an "Elvis man or a Beatles man". This explains a later comment ("an Elvis man should love this") that Mia makes in the theatrical version.
The taxi ride and conversation between Butch and Esmarelda was longer, and there was additional dialogue where Butch explains his feelings about being a boxer and killing his opponent Floyd.
At the auto parts yard, Winston Wolfe haggles good-naturedly with owner Monster Joe (Dick Miller), followed by Wolfe flirting with Joe's daughter Raquel (Julia Sweeney). The cut resulted in Sweeney's cameo being reduced to a walk-on and Miller having a Deleted Role.
Doing It for the Art: This was one of several movies made in the 1990s in which Bruce Willis took a pay cut to work in an independent film. His presence in the film helped secure a lot of additional funding.
Dueling Movies: With Color of Night in a way, as both have Bruce Willis in a starring role, were distributed by Disney, and were released around the time of the departure of Disney studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg (who was instrumental in sealing the deal that led to Disney releasing Pulp Fiction in the first place). Color of Night lost by being one of the worst-reviewed films of 1994. They're not all that similar, though, Color being an erotic thriller/murder mystery and Fiction more of a gangster-themed Hyperlink Story.
Fake Nationality: Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros plays a French character (and, comically, in the Spanish-language dub of Pulp Fiction her character is incapable of speaking Portuguese rather than Spanish).
Follow the Leader: Pulp Fiction was arguably the single most influential movie of The '90s, at least as far as the indie scene is concerned. The number of copycat imitators that followed in its wake, attempting to emulate its dialogue, non-linear storytelling, and overall tone, cannot be overstated. Filmmakers like Guy Ritchie practically built their entire careers off of the influence of this movie.
Orphaned Reference: Mia tells Vincent that an "Elvis man" should love Jackrabbit Slim's. This refers to a deleted scene where she interviews him with a video camera and asks him whether he's a Beatles man or an Elvis man.
Playing Against Type: Amanda Plummer was chiefly known for playing fey oddballs in movies like The Fisher King. When Quentin Tarantino cast Tim Roth, he was initially thinking of casting Roth as someone other than Pumpkin. Roth (who was friends with Plummer) told Tarantino "I'd like to work with Amanda, as long as she's got a really big fucking gun in her hand." Tarantino said "Done", and sculpted the characters of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny to fit Roth and Plummer.
There's a popular misconception that all clocks in the film are stuck at 4:20. While the events of the film take place over an Extremely Short Timespan, there's only one scene that happens around 4:20, which is the pawnshop.
Due to how similar they look, the "kid with the hand cannon" is misattributed to Jerry Seinfeld. He was portrayed by Alexis Arquette.
Production Posse: Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, and Steve Buscemi return for supporting roles after appearing in Tarantino's debut film Reservoir Dogs. Many behind-the-scenes professionals also returned.
The man who bursts out from the bathroom in Brett's apartment is played by transgender woman Alexis Arquette (whose sister, Rosanna Arquette, played Jody).
The Gimp was played by comedian Stephen Hibbert, at the time married to Julia Sweeney. Later in the film, Sweeney herself has a cameo as Monster Joe's daughter Raquel.
The Red Stapler: The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs T-shirt that Vincent wears became a hot seller after appearing in the movie.
Many people believe that the band-aid on Ving Rhames' neck was an intentional choice by the filmmakers. In reality, it came from an accident Rhames had while shaving his head. When Quentin Tarantino noticed it, it inspired him to open the "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace" sequence with a close-up of the band-aid. Ultimately, Tarantino liked showing the band-aid rather than Rhames' face because it accentuated the character's mercurial nature and was more visually exciting than a series of single shots of Rhames and Bruce Willis.
Paul Calderón (who plays Marsellus' Number Two) nailed his audition and originally had a lock on the part for Jules. Sam Jackson heard about it and flew into LA, stopping for a bite to eat on the way. Right before he walked in the room, a crew member came up to him and said "I love your work, Mr. Fishburne," which majorly pissed Jackson off. Tarantino and his producer, Lawrence Bender, were sitting in the audition room when Jackson walked in, carrying a bag of fast food and holding a soft drink, glaring at the two menacingly, and looking mean as hell and absolutely furious, all the while calmly sipping his soda, as if drinking their souls. Ergo, Jules' entire personality in a nutshell, and given the character's fondness for fast food, especially cheeseburgers and soda, Jackson's appearance was coincidentally perfect. Tarantino and Bender were so intimidated by Jackson's (genuinely) sour mood that he ended up getting the part.
Shoot the Money: The Jackrabbit Slim's set was extremely elaborate, and featured lots of extras in costume as 1950s stars. It was the most expensive set piece in the film, so it's easy to see why the camera does a sweeping tour through the whole establishment as Mia and Vincent find their seats.
Shrug of God: Quentin Tarantino's explanation for what's in the briefcase: "It's whatever the audience wants it to be."
Quentin Tarantino originally wanted Jules to have an afro, but the wig wrangler got a Jheri curl wig by mistake. Samuel L. Jackson thought it was perfect for the character and insisted they keep it.
The scene with Marvin being shot in the face was also going to play out differently. It wasn't until a suggestion from LaMarr to Tarantino that the scene was changed to be what happened in the film.
John Travolta ad-libbed the line "That's a pretty good question" after Mia Wallace asks why it's necessary to talk about bullshit.
Jules flipping the table over in the beginning was improvised by Samuel L. Jackson, and Frank Whaley's reaction was genuine, but they continued with the scene, and it was done in one take.
Jules Winnfield: Tarantino originally wrote the role for Laurence Fishburne, but he refused it because his team did not see it as a starring role and he felt it glamorised heroin. Charles S. Dutton and Eddie Murphy were also considered. Paul Calderon was very nearly cast in the part, but Jackson pushed hard for the role, and ultimately won out in the end. Calderon was given a consolation prize of sorts in the role of Paul the bartender.
Honey Bunny: Arquette, Cates, Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tomei were considered.
Lance and Jody: According to Courtney Love, she and Kurt Cobain were specifically offered the role. Apparently (and unfortunately), Cobain turned it down. Depending on what article you read, Tarantino denies this. Pam Grier auditioned for Jody. Though she had a great audition, Tarantino decided not to cast her because he could not imagine Grier getting pushed around the way the character does. Ellen DeGeneres read for the part, while Patricia Arquette was considered before it went to her sister Rosanna. Cage, Cusack, Depp, Keaton, Oldman, Bill Paxton, Eric Roberts, and Slater were also considered for Lance, while Jennifer Beals, Sofia Coppola, Fonda, and Leigh were also considered for Jody.
Butch was written for Mickey Rourke. Rourke turned the role down, since the script was too "out there" and he hadn't seen Reservoir Dogs yet. He has called the decision to pass the biggest regret of his career. Matt Dillon was offered the role, but said he'd sleep on it, which angered Tarantino. He next offered the role to Bruce Willis, who was a long shot, as he was still a big-money, A-list star at that point. Cage, Depp, Penn, and Sylvester Stallone were also considered.
Marvin's death was originally very different: Vincent's wayward shot was originally supposed to hit Marvin in the neck, after which Vincent mercy-kills him. The scene was deemed too depressing by Tarantino, and he altered the scene to the more comedic version seen in the movie.
The final scene was going to include an Imagine Spot where Jules kills Pumpkin and Honey Bunny to show what the old Jules would have done. Tarantino decided this was already clear enough and didn't even shoot it.
Tarantino had originally intended "My Sharona" by The Knack to be played during the Gimp torture sequence, but the rights had already been licensed to another film, Reality Bites. On top of this, one of the members of the band had become a born-again Christian, and did not want the song to be associated with a scene of sexual violence.
Tarantino originally conceived of the movie as an anthology film, with a different director shooting each segment. This idea would later be used in Four Rooms, which Tarantino directed (and appeared in) the final segment of.
According to Samuel L. Jackson, Bonnie wasn't originally a black woman in the original draft of the movie. Quentin Tarantino eventually changed her ethnicity in order to soften Jimmie's usage of the N-word when talking with Jules and Vincent after he ended up having to play the role himself.
Word of Dante: Steve Buscemi told The Late Late Show that he believes that his Buddy Holly waiter is really Mr. Pink, who survived the end of the film and is always getting shitty tips as a form of karma.
You Look Familiar: According to Word of God, Pulp Fiction is set in the same universe as Reservoir Dogs. Several actors (Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Tarantino himself) return as different characters. If Michael Madsen had been cast as Vincent Vega (see above), presumably this would have made Vincent and Vic (Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs) twins.
Pulp Fiction was the very first film Miramax financed with new distribution partner Disney after studio chiefs there sealed a deal in 1992: this began a 16-year long relationship between the two studios. As of 2022, the film is now owned by Paramount, after they bought 49% of Miramax from beIN Media Group, the company's majority stake holder.
Pulp Fiction is on Roger Ebert's Great Movies List.
Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: Along with two regular versions (one with a Retraux coin door for home use, one with a regular coin door, intended for public use as it can accept bills), the game came out in a "Bad Mother Flipper Limited Edition" of 1,000 tables, which features a fully animated Jack Rabbit Slim's topper, a vintage-looking speaker grill, interior motor blades, a shaker motor assembly, a cast metal medallion, a promotional banner, a certificate of authenticity signed by designer Mark Ritchie, and an extended warranty note 24 months for the electronics, 12 for the mechanicals - double that the regular versions.
Real Song Theme Tune: Five different songs from the film's soundtrack feature here - "Misirlou" is its main theme, "Jungle Boogie" plays during Brief Case Boogie, "Comanche" plays during Pawn Shop Panic, "You Never Can Tell" plays during Twist Contest and "Son Of A Preacher Man" plays (albeit heavily muffled) during The Shot.
The Bodyguard