The cast of ‘Jackie Brown’: Where are they now?

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Based on the Elmore Leonard book Rum Punch, Quentin Tarantino‘s 1997 film Jackie Brown was his third movie as director following the runaway success of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Needless to say, after those groundbreaking films, anticipation was high for the auteur’s next outing.

Tarantino, always a hard man to pin down, subverted audience expectations with Jackie Brown, crafting an homage to the Blaxploitation flicks of the 1970s that didn’t feature some of the flashier stylistic tricks of his previous work. While the film grossed around $40 million in the U.S. upon release, it’s become something of a cult classic in the ensuing decades.

Like all Tarantino films, Jackie Brown has an amazing cast, one you can tell was carefully curated by the director. Read on to find out more about the cast and their careers post-Jackie Brown.

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An icon in the Blaxploitation genre, Pam Grier‘s career had dimmed by the 1990s. But Tarantino recognized the actress’ ability to shine and changed the race and last name of the money-smuggling flight attendant from Elmore’s book to write the screenplay specifically for Grier. There are also nods to Grier’s career throughout the movie, with dialogue and music snippets from both Coffy and Foxy Brown.

Grier enjoyed a small burst of work after the success of Jackie Brown, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe, appearing in supporting roles in the dark teen comedy Jawbreaker, John Carpenter‘s Ghosts of Mars (following their collaboration on 1996’s Escape From L.A.), and the Showtime series Linc’s, among other projects. Later, she would be a regular on the groundbreaking drama The L Word before joining the ensemble casts of Bad Grandmas and Poms. Most recently, she appeared in two seasons of the TV series Bless This Mess alongside Dax Shepard. 

EW interviewed Grier about her incredible career. See what she had to say about Jackie Brown, Coffy, and more!

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As the grizzled bail bondsman tasked with tracking down the titular character, Robert Forster also experienced a career resurgence under the caring hand of Tarantino. Forster had been a steady presence in 1970s and ’80s B-flicks like sci-fi Disney film The Black Hole, the delightfully ludicrous horror feature Alligator, and Chuck Norris action movie The Delta Force. The meaty roles had dried up for the veteran actor, but his soulful and weary portrayal in Jackie Brown earned Forster an Oscar nomination — and a new lease on his career.

Forster appeared in Mulholland Drive, Like Mike, and Me, Myself & Irene in the aftermath of his Jackie Brown success. But it was on TV where Forster really made an impact, returning to Leonard territory in the gone-way-too-soon Karen Sisco, along with roles in Breaking Bad and the Twin Peaks: The Return revival. Forster died in October 2019 at the age of 78, the same day one of his final gigs, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, premiered in a limited theatrical run.

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Before Jackie Brown, Samuel L. Jackson and Tarantino had already struck gold three years earlier in Pulp Fiction, with Jackson’s bible-quoting hitman Jules becoming an instant icon. So, it was no surprise that Jackson showed up here as gun runner Ordell Robbie. Jackson’s role became controversial because of Tarantino’s screenplay’s repeated use of the N-word, which was decried by Spike Lee and other Black leaders.

Of course, the discourse had no impact on Jackson’s career, which you probably know has not stopped rolling over the past 30 years. Jackson has appeared in the Star Wars prequels, multiple Marvel projects, The Incredibles, countless commercials, Jurassic Park, that weird Saw-adjacent movie with Chris Rock… He’s pretty much been an omnipresent pop culture titan. And he doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, with Marvel’s Secret Invasion TV show coming soon.

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It’s always a treat when Robert De Niro — star of The Godfather, Raging Bull, This Boy’s Life, and more — takes a break from serious and brings a little levity to the screen. Oh, but in Jackie Brown, De Niro’s Louis Gara isn’t a good guy — he’s an ex-con who delivers a shocking moment of violence in the film — but it was funny seeing America’s Greatest Actor take a giant bong rip. After all, the Oscar winner was certainly picky about the roles he chose circa 1997.

In the years to come, well, not so much. De Niro is still amazing, but at some point, he decided that paying the bills was just as important as the work. So, for every Ronin or The Irishman, he gives us a Bad Grandpa or Freelancers or The Bag Man on the ledger. And even though his most recent film is something called Savage Salvation, he’s got multiple movies coming out in 2023, including a can’t-miss reunion with Martin Scorsese in Killers of the Flower Moon.

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Like most Tarantino films, Jackie Brown was filled with cameos from famous faces eager to work with the hot young director, even if it was — like in Chris Tucker‘s case as the doomed Beaumont — short-lived. Tucker — whose breakout role was in 1995’s Friday — had two more films come out in 1997 in addition to Jackie Brown: The Fifth Element and Money Talks.

Tucker’s star continued to rise with the Rush Hour series, but those three flicks were the only movies he made from 1998 to 2007, as Tucker’s religious beliefs caused him to step away from Hollywood and stand-up comedy. Since then, he’s had supporting roles in Silver Linings Playbook and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Fans can also look forward to seeing Tucker on the big screen in the upcoming Nike film Air.

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When Tarantino decided to make Jackie Brown, he could have pretty much made any movie he wanted — that’s how much Hollywood was in love with its latest wunderkind director. Known for his original screenplays, it was an interesting move for him to adapt a novel for his third film. Tarantino told The Guardian, “I have wanted for a long time to adapt Elmore Leonard. He was the first novelist I read as a kid that really spoke to me.”

Since Jackie Brown hit theaters in 1997,  Tarantino has released films at an erratic pace, often announcing potential movies that never come to fruition while cranking out seven other films, including the Kill Bill double feature (with another potentially on the way), Inglourious Basterds, and most recently 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino has also branched out into other mediums, recently writing a companion fiction novel to his last movie along with Cinema Speculation, a non-fiction tome about some of his favorite 1970s flicks. He said in 2022 that his next movie would be his last, though that wouldn’t be the first time he’s hinted at retirement.

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Michael Keaton‘s character, ATF agent Ray Nicolette, is an interesting case study in Hollywood cooperation. At the same time Tarantino was producing Jackie Brown, Steven Soderbergh was putting together another Leonard adaptation, Out of Sight. Nicolette appears in both books, and Tarantino made sure Soderbergh could use Keaton in a brief cameo role, free of charge.

Keaton is another Jackie Brown actor who went through a relative lull before returning to prominence thanks to his Oscar-nominated turn in 2014’s Birdman. Since then, Keaton has been a welcome presence both on TV and in film, returning to the superhero genre in Spider-Man: Homecoming and winning an Emmy in 2022 for Dopesick. Keaton is also reprising his biggest role in 2023, appearing as OG Batman in The Flash.

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Bridget Fonda co-starred in Jackie Brown as Melanie, one of Ordell’s many girlfriends. She attempts to double-cross him to get some easy money and winds up spending her time with Louis (De Niro). Fonda’s pot-smoking, bikini-wearing moll also provides some hearty ammunition for those who claim that Tarantino has a foot fetish, as there are several loving shots of the actress’ toes.

Fonda was one of the It Girls of the 1990s, thanks to her famous family and strong performances in roles like Single White Female and Point of No Return, following up her stint in Jackie with the Oscar-nominated thriller A Simple Plan. In 2002, Fonda starred in the TV movie The Snow Queen, which has been her final role to date following a serious car accident in 2003, marriage to composer Danny Elfman, and her focus on raising a family.

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Michael Bowen is a classic “that guy… from that thing” actor whom Tarantino loves to use in his movies. The veteran actor was no stranger to the screen when he was cast as the LAPD detective trying to use Jackie to bust Ordell, having appeared in various small-time flicks, sequels for The Godfather and Beverly Hills Cop, and later following Jackie‘s success with Paul Thomas Anderson‘s epic ensemble film Magnolia. Tarantino would go on to cast Bowen in both Kill Bill movies and Django Unchained.  

Bowen also parlayed his part into some nice TV roles, with arcs on Lost as one of the “Others,” and on Breaking Bad as neo-Nazi gang leader Jack Welker. He most recently appeared in a 2022 episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime.

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LisaGay Hamilton had a small but memorable role as the country bumpkin Sheronda in Jackie Brown, one of the early parts for the Juilliard graduate in a long career that spans TV, film, and stage. Shortly after the film’s release, Hamilton landed a role on The Practice, where she starred for seven seasons.  

She’s worked steadily since then, appearing in prestige films like Beautiful Boy, Ad Astra, and Vice, as well as on hit TV shows like Lakers’ series Winning Time and The Dropout — not to mention her role as Calpurnia in the Broadway revival of To Kill A Mockingbird.