Quentin Tarantino has said that he once told himself he would never give his mother any money once he got successful, and that he’s stuck to it.
In a recent episode of The Moment with Brian Koppelman podcast, Tarantino revealed that he vowed to never give any money he’s made from his filmmaking career to his mother after she apparently discouraged his writing when he was younger. When he was still in high school, a young Tarantino would find himself in trouble for writing screenplays during classes.
He said that he got in trouble with it at the time, and teachers “looked at it as a defiant act of rebellion that I’m doing this instead of my school work.” But it wasn’t just his teachers that weren’t a fan of him focusing on his writing over his education.
“My mom always had a hard time about my scholastic non-ability," he said. Per his side of the story, she allegedly continued to "bitch at me about [writing screenplays]." He continued, "Then in the middle of her little tirade, she said, 'Oh, and by the way, this little 'writing career,' with the finger quotes and everything. This little 'writing career' that you're doing? That shit is over.'"
That’s when Tarantino told her she would never see any of the fruits of his labor. “When she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I go, 'Okay lady, when I become a successful writer, you will never see one penny from my success. There will be no house for you. There's no vacation for you, no Elvis Cadillac for mommy. You get nothing. Because you said that.'"
And according to the director, he’s stuck to his guns. “I helped her out with a jam with the IRS, but no house,” he said. “No Cadillac, no house.” Tarantino also suggested that his mother “drove him” to prove her wrong. “There are consequences for your words as you deal with your children. Remember there are consequences for your sarcastic tone about what's meaningful to them."
For what it’s worth, Tarantino won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay twice; in 1995 for Pulp Fiction, and in 2013 for Django Unchained.
