The D Is Silent: Inside The Trailer For 'Django Unchained'

Features

by Oliver Lyttelton
June 11, 2012 3:03 PM
13 Comments

The biggest story of the last week, by a mile, was the debut of the first trailer for Quentin Tarantino's sure-to-be-controversial Western "Django Unchained." Starring Jamie Foxx as the title character, a slave out to rescue his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), with bounty hunter Christoph Waltz as his mentor and companion Dr. King Schultz, and Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, one of the villains, it was already one of the most anticipated films of the year beforehand, but the excellent teaser has certainly raised expectations even further.

With the trailer now having been out there for a few days, we thought it was a good time to dig into a little, and highlight some of the less obvious moments in the clip -- hints and glimpses of some of the characters who'll play key roles in the script, as well as one example of the kind of Easter Egg we're sure Tarantino will be dropping throughout.

1. Big Daddy Bennett
That Colonel Sanders-looking fella that appears in one brief shot at the 2:03 mark? That's "Miami Vice" star Don Johnson (fresh off a role in Tarantino pal Robert Rodriguez's "Machete"), as Spencer "Big Daddy" Bennett, an incredibly racist slave-owner who employs the Brittle Brothers. He's the first serious threat that our heroes come up against, and is more dangerous than his dapper white suit might suggest. Way back in the day, we suggested that this was "the prime slot for the kind of John Travolta/Robert Forster-esque career revival that Tarantino specializes in," and between this and his recent turn in "Eastbound and Down," Johnson certainly seems to be on the comeback trail. And from what we saw from the footage in Cannes, he absolutely kills in the part.

2. The Brittle Brothers
Django and Dr. King's first target (aside from James Remar as his captor Ace Speck, who we see dispatched in the earliest moments of the trailer), are the Brittle Brothers, the outlaws who captured and sold Django and his wife Broomhilda. They're set up to be major antagonists, but as the trailer reveals later on, and this being a Tarantino film, it's not necessarily going to play out that way... We see all three in quick glimpses (around 1:12), but the most recognizable is M.C. Gainey, the grizzled character actor favorite who's appeared in "Con Air," "Sideways," "Justified" (as the father of 'Django' co-star Walton Goggins' character) and "Lost," as Tom Friendly. The others are slightly unclear: it was announced that "Urban Cowboy" and "True Blood" star Cooper Huckabee would be playing one of the others -- we're assuming he's the third, eye-patched Brittle that we see (although we also thought it looked a little like Shea Whigham). As for the third: beats us. Any guesses?

Features

More: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Franco Nero, Laura Cayouette, Don Johnson

13 Comments

| Reply
vera | June 14, 2012 7:35 PMReply

What about the ever gorgeous Nichole Galicia who is featured prominently in the trailer. Ahh that's not Kerry Washington.
Rudi | June 15, 2012 4:53 AM

Who s that enslaved women at 0.52 ???
Kerry Washington or not ??
Yun | June 13, 2012 4:26 AMReply

Tom Savini is the third Brittle Brother
Don_Vito | June 13, 2012 4:10 AMReply

Smokey is the name of character in movie Friday (1995), one of the favorite movies in past 20 years Tarantino listed, played by Chris Tucker. Maybe it was inspiration for the name.
Also, Don Johnson played in TV Series Miami Vice and Jamie Foxx played in the movie Miami Vice (Michael Mann). Interesting trivia.
Sebastian | June 13, 2012 3:34 AMReply

pretty sure that is not Laura Cayouette in the window at 2.02
Sebastian | June 13, 2012 3:31 AMReply

In the beginning, that's gotta be James Russo, not James Remar....
Sean | June 11, 2012 10:30 PMReply

Two more in-jokes: the saloon is called Minnesota Clay's (easily seen in a still photo; I'm not sure if it's visible in the trailer). And from the script: Candie's lawyer is Leonide Moguy. Leonide Moguy directed Action in Arabia, a film Tarantino discovered while researching for Inglorious Basterds. This stuff is (almost) half the fun of a Tarantino film.
cirkusfolk | June 11, 2012 3:47 PMReply

So is it not a spoiler then that we see the Brittle Brother from Justified get shot by Django at the end of the trailer as he says "I like the way you die boy"? Wtf.
Russell | June 11, 2012 3:28 PMReply

"Laura Cayouette, who played Rocket in "Kill Bill: Volume 2," as well as more substantial roles in the Tarantino-produced "Daltry Calhoun" and "Hell Ride," and can be glimpsed at 2:02 in the trailer."

That looks a lot more like Amber Tamblyn.
Kinick | July 13, 2012 4:36 PM

Really? You're certain it's not Amber Tamblyn? Because I've just heard from the horse's mouth she has a cameo in the film.
Nope | June 11, 2012 3:35 PM

That's definitely not Amber Tamblyn.
Kinick | June 11, 2012 3:28 PMReply

I thought that may be Laura Cayouette also...but apparently it isn't (she mentioned on her facebook she isn't in the trailer) and it looks like a younger actress, no idea who or even if it's significant role or extra
Dan | June 11, 2012 3:08 PMReply

Doc Duhame is playing the 3rd brittle brother. He's a stuntman who was working on Django. He's the last one they show they show in the little snippet in the trailer. Gainey is 1st then Huckabee then Duhame