20 Years Later: The Making of Pulp Fiction

Vanity Fair has a fantastic article about the groundbreaking film.  I remember seeing this in the theater in college and just being blown away.  Still a favorite 20 years on. 

Everyone except Harvey Weinstein, who wanted anyone but Travolta. Mike Simpson had given Weinstein a "term sheet" of Tarantino's demands, which included final cut, a two-and-a-half-hour running time, and final choice of actors. "One of the actors I had on the list was John Travolta," says Tarantino. "And it came back: 'The entire list is approved … except for John Travolta.' So I got together with Harvey, and he's like, 'I can get Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Penn, William Hurt.' " By then, according to Simpson, "Daniel Day-Lewis and Bruce Willis, who was the biggest star in Hollywood, had both gotten their hands on the script and wanted to play Vincent Vega."

During a late-night telephone call with Simpson, the Weinsteins accepted all of Tarantino's deal points except one—the casting of Travolta. "At midnight our time, three in the morning in New York, Harvey said, 'Let's just close the deal, and we'll address that tomorrow in good faith,' " Simpson recalls.

Simpson told him, "You're going to agree to it right now, or there's no deal." Harvey erupted, but Simpson held firm. "We've got two other buyers waiting outside to get this," he said. (Ronna Wallace, of Live Entertainment, which had producedReservoir Dogs, had actually stormed William Morris security that night in an attempt to disrupt Simpson's call with the Weinsteins.) "You've got 15 seconds to agree to it. If I hang up, it's over," said Simpson. "Harvey kept talking, arguing, and I said, 'O.K., 15, 14.' When I got to eight, Bob goes, 'Harvey, we have to say yes.' Harvey says, 'O.K., fuck it.' "

At the end is a link to an interview with Phil Lamar, who played the unfortunate "Marvin".  That guy has had an unbelievably prolific career as a voice actor.