How A Dead Rabbit Inspired Amanda Plummer's Pulp Fiction Character
The history behind the making of Quentin Tarantino's 1994 movie "Pulp Fiction" is almost as winding and complex as the movie itself, as the young director fought to get his sophomore film made in spite of what seemed like insurmountable odds. Among the difficulties facing Tarantino was the fact that his script was hand-written and barely legible, which isn't exactly the kind of thing that inspires faith in investors. Thankfully, he had the help of typist and photographer Julie Chen, who took Tarantino's handwritten script and typed it up, making it readable for executives. She also let him crash at her place and worked for free, which makes Chen the unsung MVP of "Pulp Fiction," but someone else got a shout-out in the movie instead: her dead pet rabbit.
In an interview with CBS News in 2014, Chen revealed her full involvement in the creation of "Pulp Fiction" and shared some stories behind the making of one of the 20th century's most popular films, including the details behind her poor dead bunny and how it came to inspire Amanda Plummer's character.
What's in a name?
In the interview, Chen describes her experiences getting to know Tarantino after the two met on the set of "Reservoir Dogs," explaining that they would often go get late-night dinners at Denny's and work together on turning his hand-written notes into a cohesive script. It took her three months to turn around a fully typed script for "Pulp Fiction" because Tarantino's handwriting and spelling were both allegedly so atrocious, but in the end, Miramax approved the script almost as soon as it was submitted. There was just one issue — Chen was never paid for typing up the script. She told CBS News:
"Quentin didn't actually pay me to type the script. I had volunteered because I thought it was only going to take a couple weeks, no big deal. I didn't think it would be months and I didn't think I would be so emotionally involved in wanting to see this film get made. I got gripped by it. I got gripped by him."
Instead, she asked him to pet-sit her rabbit, Honey Bunny, while she was on location shooting the Dennis Hopper movie "Chasers," but Tarantino declined. (His full answer? "I'm the last person who should be bunny-sitting." Fair.) She ended up giving the rabbit to some friends who released it into the wild, which is a really stupid thing to do with a domesticated rabbit, especially because the rabbit ultimately, sadly, died. In the end, Tarantino named Amanda Plummer's character in the poor bunny's memory, and the rest is movie history.