Quentin Tarantino's Mean Comments About Matthew Lillard Are Making Us Want to Scream

It's really hard to hear director Quentin Tarantino say mean things about nice actors when he previously defended folks like Roman Polanski. In November 2003, Tarantino appeared on Howard Stern's show, where the veteran radio host asked him why Hollywood embraces a man who pleaded guilty to statutory rape. Tarantino said having s-x with a minor isn't rape; that's statutory rape. Rape is violent and "doesn’t apply to everything people use it for," he explained.

That's not the only time Tarantino said something wildly out of pocket. In October 2017, he revealed that he knew about Harvey Weinstein's years-long s-xual misconduct towards women but chose to never speak up about it, per The New York Times. Tarantino claimed to feel shame about that. Nearly a decade later, Tarantino was a guest on Bret Easton Ellis's podcast, where he tore into a few actors. Let's look at the comments he made about Matthew Lillard.

While discussing his top 10 movies of the century with Ellis, Tarantino took a few weird turns. One of them was about actor Paul Dano, whose performance in There Will Be Blood was not well-received by the Kill Bill director. Tarantino said the film's biggest flaw was Dano's performance, whom he described as "weak sauce."

After he tore apart Dano, Tarantino directed his ire toward actors Owen Wilson and Matthew Lillard, saying he doesn't care for either of them. He did not elaborate beyond that. Like Brendan Fraser, Lillard is in the middle of a career comeback, and we couldn't be happier about his return. He described this moment in time to USA Today as the era of Matthew Lillard 2.0. "As you're rounding second base headed for home on a career, to get a resurgence so late in life is a gift," said the actor.

While at GalaxyCon in Columbus, Ohio, Lillard took a moment to respond to Tarantino's thoughts about him. "Quentin Tarantino this week said he didn't like me as an actor," said Lillard in front of an audience at a movie theater. This drew boos from the fans. "It hurts your feelings," Lillard said. "And he wouldn't say that to Tom Cruise." He continued, "I'm very popular in this room. I'm not very popular in Hollywood. Two totally different microcosms. So it's humbling, and it hurts."

If you search Matthew Lillard's name on X (formerly Twitter) you'll be met with tons of posts in support of the Scream actor. "Not to be dramatic," wrote @_idk3ither_, "but I would set Tarantino on fire just to keep Matthew Lillard warm." Another said they would scream from the rooftops about how Matthew Lillard is the nicest famous person they've met. Matthew Lillard, if you're reading this, we ride at dawn. As one X user put it: "Defending Matthew Lillard online isn't enough. I need a sword."