Pulp Fiction could have looked a whole lot different. The role of Lance (Eric Stoltz) was actually written for John Cusack, but Stoltz — the second choice to play the drug dealer — got it when Cusack passed.

Other could-have-beens? Tarantino said that Jennifer Aniston was close to getting the role of Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ manager said that her actress turned down the role due to her Seinfeld commitments.

Sylvester Stallone was considered to play Butch (Bruce Willis), and early in the process Tarantino had thoughts of casting Tim Roth as Vincent. Had Roth gotten the role — he did appear in Pulp Fiction as Pumpkin — the idea was for his partner in crime to be Gary Oldman. As you know, Samuel L. Jackson, not Oldman, landed the part of Jules.

As fascinating as all of this is to chew on, we’re glad that it worked out the way that it did.