The Hollywood Reporter - 31.07.2019

People, Places, Preoccupations

About Town

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 27 JULY 31, 2019

HOLLYWOOD

: ANDREW COOPER (4). VEGA: FG/BAUER-GRIFFIN/GC IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES. HEFNER: REX/

SHUTTERSTOCK. COYOTE: TRISTAN CASSEL. MUSSO: KAYTE DEIOMA/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Once Upon a Time

All Over Hollywood

F

or Leo and Brad, Hollywood Boulevard made

them pretty giddy,” recalls production designer

Barbara Ling of stars DiCaprio and Pitt’s reac t ion

to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s re-creation of

a full block of 1969 storefronts: The Pussycat Theater, the

Vogue Theater, Peaches Records, a Thom McAn shoe store,

an Orange Julius, tattoo parlors, TV repair shops and even

the Larry Edmunds Bookshop were all so realistic that

tourists tried to patronize them and Angelenos pleaded,

“Can’t you leave it?” Ling recalls. “Every few days was a

whole new set that just kept immersing you in this world,”

she adds of her first collaboration with Quentin Tarantino,

whose latest film — set in the summer of the gruesome

Manson Family murders that shocked the city — made use

of several iconic destinations and eateries across L.A.

MUSSO & FRANK GRILL “Quentin’s been a longtime patron,”

says Mark Echeverria, the fourth-generation owner of

the venerable restaurant that celebrates 100 years in

September. “When he wanted to make this restaurant a

pivotal part of the movie, it really meant a lot.” Echeverria’s

staff, many of whom cameo, also helped filmmakers find

CINEMA VERITE

Tarantino’s film hit iconic L.A. locations from

El Coyote to the Cinera m a Dome to con ju re the

city’s Manson-era vibe By Scott Huver

The Mexican restaurant on Ventura

Boulevard in Sherman Oaks where

DiCaprio’s and Pitt’s characters get

drunk together is a personal hangout

for Tarantino. “Quentin’s really into

margaritas,” recalls location manager

Rick Schuler. “He shared his recipe

with [the owner], and then she honored

him by coming up with The Tarantino.”

Hollywood cheats the timeline — Hugh Hefner (left) didn’t purchase the mansion until 1971 — but “it was very fun to

have it back to its glory,” says production designer Barbara Ling. (Current owner Daren Metropoulos required a face-

to-face with Tarantino to sign on and scored an associate producer credit.) Says Rebecca Rittenhouse, who appears

as Michelle Phillips in a party scene, “We kept sitting there thinking, ‘If these walls could talk, what would they say?’ ”

“[Tarantino] went there when he was a

kid, and he still goes there,” says Schuler

of the Beverly Boulevard fixture. It’s

virtually unchanged since its 1951 start,

notes L.A. historian Alison Martino.

“All you need to dress it is put some

vintage cars in front,” she says. “Now

it’s suddenly 1969.”

From left: Brad

Pitt, Leonardo

DiCaprio and

Al Pacino, who

all have been

to Musso &

Frank (above,

in 2004), at the

bar in character.

“Typically we

see them when

they’re coming

in and hanging

out,” says

owner Mark

Echeverria. “To

see somebody

in their

professional

environment in

our restaurant

was pretty cool.”

PLAYBOY

MANSION

CASA

VEGA

EL COYOTE

M U S S O

& FRANK