Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Quentin Tarantino reveals what happens to Leonardo DiCaprio's character after movie

Tarantino has his own ideas about what becomes of Rick Dalton

Quentin Tarantino has revealed what becomes of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character after the events depicted in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

By the end of the film, Rick Dalton’s career appears somewhat on the mend as he’s freshly back from shooting several movies in Italy.

However, given that Dalton experiences crippling professional doubt throughout most of the film, viewers would be justified in wondering what happens to the Western icon after he stops an attack at Sharon Tate’s house.

Tarantino, who has given the topic some thought, gave an insight into Dalton’s future while discussing the film on Margaret Cho’s podcast.

“There’s a few different ways his career could have gone depending on who you kind of hitch your horse to, of who he is representing,” Tarantino said.

Referring to two actors of Dalton’s generation, he added: “It could be this way, it could be that way – the George Maharis way is this way, the Tye Hardin way is that way. And I think it’s kind of a combination of a few of them.

“But what could have easily have happened, even if he had a little bit more success in the Seventies than maybe I give him credit for, what I could really see happening, because it happened to a lot of these guys, is that by the late Seventies, early Eighties, a lot of these macho Fifties/Sixties television leading men, they showed up on TV shows again but as the older cop – the boss of the younger cop that sends them out on the missions.”

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, which was released over the summer, is now considered a top contender in the Oscars race.

Tarantino recently revealed that DiCaprio improvised one of his most iconic scenes as Dalton, in which the actor berates himself after forgetting his lines on set.