Bring Out The Gimp! Quentin Tarantino Explains the Identity of ’Pulp Fiction’s Leather-Clad Icon

The Massive Image

Pulp Fiction
turned Quentin Tarantino into an enormous filmmaking title.
The scene involving a gimp, Ving Rhames, and Bruce Willis is a jarring second from the movie.
Stephen Hibbert performed the Gimp, revealing his audtion course of and writing for child’s reveals.

Quentin Tarantino may need already been a profitable director in 1994 thanks to Reservoir Dogs, made two years earlier, but it surely was Pulp Fiction that made him a family title whereas additionally resurrecting the career of John Travolta. Pulp Fiction was a vital and field workplace darling, successful the coveted Palme d’Or on the Cannes Movie Pageant, while also making $108 million in theaters worldwide on a mere $8 million budget. Pulp Fiction is a wierd but memorable journey, from its cool characters (nobody is extra of a badass than Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winnfield), to that iconic soundtrack, however there’s one scene specifically that is extra stunning than the rest. That might be the notorious Gimp scene, with the masked actor behind the character being performed by a comparatively unknown actor named Stephen Hibbert. How did Hibbert get the position although, and simply who within the hell is the Gimp imagined to be anyway?

The Gimp Scene Is One among ‘Pulp Fiction’s Most Iconic Scenes

Picture through Miramax

Much of Pulp Fiction might revolve around Vince Vega (Travolta) and Jules, however there’s additionally a subplot involving their intimidating boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), and a down on his luck boxer named Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), who has double-crossed Marsellus and is now on the run, as a result of if he is caught, Marsellus will kill him. That is virtually precisely what occurs when Marsellus spots Butch on his manner out of city, resulting in a foot chase that lands them in a pawnshop. It is the final place on this planet they need to have gone into.

Contained in the store, the bearded proprietor, a person named Maynard (Duane Whitaker), pulls a gun on the lads and orders them to the basement, the place they’re overwhelmed, and ball gags are put of their mouths. He’s joined by an confederate named Zed (Peter Greene), and the submissive Gimp, a chained man clad all in leather-based, full with a leather-based masks. Maynard and Zed take Marsellus to a different room to sexually assault him whereas the Gimp watches over Butch. The boxer is definitely in a position to get out of his restraints and knock out the screaming Gimp, earlier than he will get a sword and saves Marsellus, thus paying off his debt. In a film full of wild moments, this one is essentially the most on the market for positive.

‘Quentin Tarantino Explains the Gimp Character

For years, followers questioned simply who the heck the Gimp was imagined to be. He has no backstory, no strains, and no cause in any respect to exist apart from to make Maynard and Zed much more terrifying. In a 2020 interview with Empire, Quentin Tarantino lastly defined the Gimp’s backstory and what happened to him after Butch left Marsellus alone with Zed. Tarantino stated:

“It doesn’t fairly play this manner within the film, however in my thoughts after I wrote it, the Gimp’s useless. Butch knocked him out after which when he handed out he hung himself. By way of backstory, he was like a hitchhiker or someone that they picked up seven years in the past, they usually educated him so he’s the proper sufferer.”

Uma Thurman lying on a bed with a cigarette and pistol in the official poster for Pulp Fiction.

Associated

The 10 Best ‘Pulp Fiction’ Quotes, Ranked

“Why will we really feel it is necessary to yak about bulls**t in an effort to be snug?”

Tarantino additionally spoke in regards to the actor behind the Gimp, a person named Stephen Hibbert, a comic who labored on the Groundlings, a comedy improv faculty in Los Angeles. He instructed a shaggy dog story about watching Pulp Fiction with one other comic, Jon Lovitz, and when Lovitz noticed Hibbert’s title in the long run credit, “He stated out loud, “WHAT? I know the Gimp?!”

Stephen Hibbert Was a Author for Two Common Children’ Cartoons

Pinky and the Brain from 'Animaniacs' — Picture through Fox Children

Jon Lovitz is a identified title, from his days on SNL to his roles in motion pictures and tv, however Stephen Hibbert is somebody you’ve got in all probability by no means heard of. In 2014, twenty years after Pulp Fiction was launched, Hibbert talked about his Gimp days with NPR’s All Things Considered. He spoke about performing with the Groundlings, and the way Tarantino would come to reveals to not be a part of the viewers however to carry out as nicely. On the identical time, Tarantino was writing Pulp Fiction, and he requested Hibbert to audition to be the Gimp. That led to a reasonably uncommon audition course of. Hibbert defined:

“He and I did like slightly psychodrama the place he was, you realize, being dominant and I used to be being passive. Simply improv. I bought the job and it was a blast. It was two days’ work, and he simply stated, ‘Go nuts.’ So I did.”

Stephen Hibbert admitted that the masks helped to cover his embarrassment, however that the leather-based gear was additionally very popular and uncomfortable. What may’ve additionally been uncomfortable is that if folks then knew what Hibbert was additionally doing in 1994. On the identical time, he was taking part in the sexually creepy Gimp, Stephen Hibbert was writing for two kids’ television shows, Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. Even Quentin Tarantino could not write one thing that humorous.

Pulp Fiction is on the market to observe on Prime Video within the U.S.