Who Is Di Caprio Character Rick Dalton Based On?

From the first moment of the film "Once upon a time in Hollywood" we meet his threatening and bright eyes of Rick Dalton (Leonardo Di Caprio), the hero of Tarantino's film. Throughout the film we follow the adventures of our hero, from the car rides with his partner Cliff (Brad Pitt) to the most intimate moments on the set, between success, hope and failures.

Reading various interviews, we can guess that Quentin Tarantino was inspired by numerous Western TV series actors to model the character of Dalton, first of all the famous Steve Mcqueen, who appeared for the first time in the TV series "Wanted dead or alive", then McQueen entered the world of cinema, starring in Papillon and Tom Horn.

Another actor who inspires the creation of the legendary "Rick Dalton" is Ty Hardin: who having starred after in the American TV series "Bronco", Hardin went to seek his fortune in Italy, where he starred in numerous Western spaghetti. Let's not forget the two actors Edd Byrnes and Peter Duel: the first is a well-known Spaghetti Western actor, from whom Tarantino will develop the idea of ​​the imaginary film "The 14 fists of McClusky". The second one, beautiful and damned, starred in the western series "Alias ​​Smith and Jones". He had alcohol problems and committed suicide in 1971. The young Tarantino, who was 8 years old at the time, was very shocked by that event.

If you look at the lives of these young actors, stars of Western cinema, you will notice in each of them a fragment of our dear Rick Dalton: the beautiful Dalton; the adventurous Dalton, who seeks success in Italy and plays in Sergio Corbucci's films; but also the bankrupt Rick Dalton, who brings back the aforementioned Peter Duel, or James Dean, actors who were condemned by their talent to a flamboyant but far too short life.