Pulp Fiction Cast and Characters
Jules Winnfield
Jules Winnfield is a remorseless killer, a hitman for the crime-lord Marsellus Wallace. Jules never eats pork, and invokes the Bible before performing executions. Jules's cool disposition is occasionally ruffled by his partner Vincent Vega, with whom he quarrels about issues both small and large. After Jules is miraculously spared by a hail of bullets, an act he considers "divine intervention," he reconsiders his life of crime, and decides not to execute Pumpkin in the final scene of the film, instead working out a diplomatic solution.
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson is an actor whose first official credit was in the 1972 independent Blaxploitation film Together for Days, which helped suit him for the role of Jules Winnfield, a character who is himself an homage to the golden age of Blaxploitation filmmaking. The year before Pulp Fiction was released, Jackson appeared in Tony Scott's True Romance, also based on a script by Quentin Tarantino, and Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. Jackson's performance as Jules, especially his recitation of Ezekiel 25:17 and his final monologue in the diner, has become one of the most enduring and iconic legacies of Pulp Fiction.
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Vincent Vega
Vincent Vega is a heroin addict who, like Jules, is an associate of Marsellus Wallace's. He is the brother of Vic Vega, also known as Mr. Blonde, from Reservoir Dogs. Despite being an addict and a murderer, Vincent can also be likeable and sensitive, such as when he explains to Jules the finer qualities of a foot massage, or when he mobilises to save Mia's life. Vincent can also be prickly and defensive, such as when he spars with Butch at the bar, or chafes at Winston Wolfe's workmanlike demeanour. Vincent is killed by Butch in Butch's apartment after going to the bathroom and leaving his weapon behind.
John Travolta
John Travolta is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his iconic performances in the late 1970s musicals Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Travolta began his career as a television actor in the series Welcome Back Kotter, and was in the midst of a professional downswing at the time that he was cast in Pulp Fiction. Tarantino chose to cast Travolta in part because his star image would likely remind audiences of his 1970s heyday, a period of time from which the film draws heavy inspiration. For his role as Vincent Vega, John Travolta was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
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Butch Coolidge
Butch is a late-career boxer whose father died in World War II, and he is the only character who the film shows as a child. He first appears in the film taking a bribe from Marsellus Wallace to throw a boxing match, which he reneges on. Tarantino allegedly modelled Butch after the character Ralph Meeks in Robert Aldrich's 1955 film Kiss Me Deadly, and intended him to be a tough, "bully"-ish character. Butch's ill-fated attempt to retrieve his most prized possession, a gold wristwatch, forms the basis for his chapter of the story. Butch survives the events of the plot, successfully riding away with his girlfriend Fabienne on a chopper named Grace.
Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis was the biggest star attached to Pulp Fiction, best known for his role as John McClane in the Die Hard series. His involvement in the project helped Tarantino secure funding for the film. Tarantino cast Willis because he resembled a specific kind of manly, gruff anti-hero common to many 1950s B-films, specifically Ralph Meeks in Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly. Willis lowered his usual salary to be a part of the film, but wound up receiving much more than he initially bargained for after the film became a runaway success.
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Marsellus Wallace
Marsellus Wallace is a drug dealer who is the central node connecting every character in the film, save Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. Marsellus's face is not shown until more than halfway through the movie, although early in the film, Jules describes him as a large, bald, black man. Intelligent and powerful, Marsellus is feared by everyone, especially Vincent, who must race to save Mia's life lest Marsellus order his execution. Marsellus orders Butch to be killed after Butch reneges on a prearranged deal to throw a boxing match, but calls a truce after Butch saves him from the hands of Zed and Maynard. Marsellus is last seen relaxing on his luxurious Los Angeles deck, telling Jules he will call Winston Wolfe to help clean up Marvin's body.
Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames is an American actor who had already appeared in over a dozen films when he was cast in the key role of Marsellus Wallace. According to Pulp Fiction's producer, Lawrence Bender, Ving Rhames gave "one of the best auditions I've ever seen," when he read for the part in front of Tarantino, Bender, and others. Pulp Fiction helped propel Rhames into roles in other major action films, such Brian DePalma's Mission: Impossible, Simon West's Con-Air, and Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight.
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Mia Wallace
Mia Wallace is first mentioned in the conversation Vincent and Jules have about Antoine Rockamora. Because she is Marsellus's wife, she is one of the most potentially dangerous characters for Vincent to interact with in the entire film. Mia is a failed actress who was in a television pilot named "Fox Force Five" that never made it to air. A cocaine addict, Mia mistakenly snorts Vincent's heroin and immediately overdoses, but is revived when Vincent successfully plunges a syringe full of adrenaline into her heart.
Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman is an American actress who, although not well known at the time of Pulp Fiction's release, had already worked with several major directors, such as Philip Kaufman, John McNaughton, and Gus van Sant. Thurman's image as Mia Wallace, reclining on a bed and smoking cigarette, dominated the promotional materials for Pulp Fiction. After Pulp Fiction, Thurman became a kind of muse for Quentin Tarantino, who went on to cast her in the central role of The Bride in his two-part revenge epic Kill Bill.
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Fabienne
Fabienne is Butch's girlfriend, who waits anxiously for him in a motel while he goes to retrieve the wristwatch she mistakenly left behind. Fabienne talks about the appeal of a pot-belly on a woman, insinuating she might be pregnant, and asks Butch to perform oral sex on her. Only Fabienne is able to coax Butch into behaving sweetly, such as when he asks her what she had for breakfast, before they both ride off together on Zed's chopper motorcycle.
Maria de Medeiros
Maria de Medeiros is a Portuguese actress who has acted in both European and American film productions. Along with Uma Thurman, Medeiros co-starred in Philip Kaufman's Henry and June, playing the role of Anais Nin. Tarantino met Medeiros while attending European film festivals following the release of Reservoir Dogs. Immediately before being cast in Pulp Fiction, Medeiros starred in the 1993 Spanish film Golden Balls, opposite Javier Bardem.
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Winston Wolfe (a.k.a. The Wolf)
Winston Wolfe is a professional fixer for career criminals, well known to Marsellus and Jules. Jules is immediately relieved upon hearing that Marsellus has called Wolfe to come handle the problematic circumstances of Marvin's death. Wolfe's consummate professionalism is his defining quality, especially his ability to get things done within a narrow window of time. His businesslike demeanour annoys Vincent. He has a girlfriend named Raquel who resembles Raquel Welch.
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor who was known for playing mobster and "tough guy" roles from the late 1970s onward, working with directors like Paul Schrader, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Abel Ferrara. Quentin Tarantino has stated that Keitel was his favorite actor growing up. In the years immediately preceding Pulp Fiction, Keitel played gangsters in films like Bugsy and Sister Act, making him a natural choice for the gangster-par-excellence Winston Wolfe.
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Captain Koons
Captain Koons, played by Christopher Walken in a cameo, appears in a flashback where he tells Butch the story of his (Butch's) great-grandfather's gold wristwatch. Koons explains that he was held captive in the same prisoner of war camp where Butch's father perished, and promised to deliver the watch into his hands.
Christopher Walken Captain Koons
Christopher Walken is an American actor with a career that spans over six decades, beginning in the 1950s with television and theatre roles. Walken worked with many of Hollywood's most successful and well-known directors in the 1970s and 1980s, including Sidney Lumet, Paul Mazursky, Woody Allen, Michael Cimino, Jonathan Demme, Robert Redford, David Cronenberg, and Mike Nichols. Walken's performance as Captain Koons was credited as a cameo, and did not receive the same billing as the other actors in the film.
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Tim Roth - Pumpkin (Ringo)
Tim Roth is a British actor whose debut role was a skinhead in the 1982 made-for-TV film Made in Britain. He built his career in the 1980s while working with several of England's top directors, including Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears, and Peter Greenaway. Along with other powerhouse actors like Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Colin Firth, Tim Roth was part of a group that became known as the "Brit Pack." Roth previously worked with Tarantino on Reservoir Dogs, playing Mr. Orange, before being cast as Pumpkin in Pulp Fiction.
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Amanda Plummer - Honeybunny
Amanda Plummer is an American actress whose earliest major role was Ellen James in George Roy Hill's 1982 film The World According to Garp. Before being cast in Pulp Fiction, she had recently starred in Terry Gilliam's 1991 fantasy epic The Fisher King, for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
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Lance
Lance is a small-time drug dealer who sells Vincent Vega heroin, claiming to give him a special "friend discount." Lance has unexplained quirks, such as eating cereal in bed while watching cartoons, and mounting high heels on his walls. Lance reluctantly helps Vincent save Mia's life, finding a small black medical book with instructions on how to properly administer an adrenaline shot. He only helps because he is afraid that Marsellus will kill both him and Vincent if the men are not successful in saving Mia's life.
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Jimmie
Jimmie is Jules's friend, who allows Jules and Vincent to decamp at his house while they decide how they will clean up Marvin's body. Jimmie's main concern is having the men out of his house before his wife Bonnie returns from his night shift as a nurse. Jimmie also complains to Winston when the men use his aunt and uncle's special bedsheets to wrap the car's bloody upholstery, but relents when Winston offers him a hefty bribe.
