- Quentin Tarantino operates a strict no phones policy when filming.
- Speaking on Rich Eisen’s radio show, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” star Timothy Olyphant said the director would fire anyone for using their cell phones on set.
- The actor said cast and crew had a booth outside where all their phones were kept.
- He said the policy was there to create a working environment where no one is distracted by the outside world.
- Olyphant describes someone running off down the street after their phone went off on set.
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Quentin Tarantino likes to keep the distractions of the 21st century away from his set.
Timothy Olyphant, who stars in Tarantino’s latest project “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” alongside Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, told Rich Eisen’s radio show that the director operates a strict no cell phones policy on set.
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If you decide to flout this golden rule, then the consequences could be severe, Olyphant warned.
"Quentin's got no cell phones allowed on set," Olyphant explained.
"None. You're fired. Cell phone out? Done. No warning, nothing, you're going home.
"I'm not telling tales," he said.
Olyphant added that if crew members or cast wanted to take a phone call, there were special booths outside where all their phones were kept.
"If you needed to make a phone call, you go out onto the street and you make a phone call," he said.
Tarantino's policy isn't to avoid spoilers being leaked from the set, though, Olyphant explained, but rather to create an atmosphere where no one is distracted by the outside world.
"I think it's about creating an environment where, while we're all here, making this thing, that's what we're all going to do.
"We're not going to be over there doing some other thing, Instagramming, or working on your next script, or talking to your agent. No. We're here, and this is what we're doing."
The actor said the policy was actually a blessing, calling it "one of the greatest gifts that he gives the entire crew."
Olyphant also said he was there one day when someone on set's phone went off: "Oh man it was scary."
"Somebody just took off running!" he said.
"It was wonderful."
Watch Olyphant tell the story below:
"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is out July 26 in the US and looks at the late '60s in Hollywood, as its golden age is coming to an end and the country is losing its peace-and-love innocence.