Quentin Tarantino Met His Wife During His "Inglourious Basterds" Days

From Oprah Magazine

• Quentin Tarantino, the writer-director who’s ninth film, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, is vying for 10 Oscar nominations this Sunday at the 2020 Oscars, married Israeli singer-model Daniella Pick in an intimate ceremony in 2018.

• Pick, the daughter of a ’70s Israeli pop star and one-half of a sisters pop duo, is expecting the couple’s first child very soon.

• She scored a small role in Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie, and watched Tarantino win the 2020 Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Quentin Tarantino—the writer, actor, producer, and two-time Oscar winner behind Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction—is a master at bulking up the old resume. When it comes to home life, however, he’s a bit of an amateur.

In what became a widely quoted and tweeted-about retirement plan, the filmmaker said he would put down the camera after making 10 movies. Once Upon a Time.. in Hollywood, a love letter to cinema starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie, is the director’s ninth feature. Vying for 10 Oscar nominations this Sunday, one of which is the Best Picture top prize, it also may be the filmmaker’s final curtain call.

“I think when it comes to theatrical movies, I’ve come to the end of the road,” he told GQ Australia last July, leaving him just one project shy of his deca-goal. “I see myself writing film books and starting to write theatre, so I’ll still be creative. I just think I’ve given all I have to give to movies.”

What he didn't say in that interview but did reveal a couple weeks later on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night stage is exactly where his heart is: “I just got married, I want to have kids!” After meeting Israeli beauty Daniella Pick in 2009, the two reunited and began dating nearly a decade later. In 2018, they married, and in 2019, they announced they were expecting their first baby. And then, just a few weeks ago, the director went on the ABC News web series Popcorn with Peter Travers and confirmed what movie fans were fearing: He is indeed winding down the film part of his career.

So, a 10-time Oscar-nominated swan song and a shiny, new home life? Not a bad way to go out. As for Pick, it’s time we get to know a little more about her, because something tells us this isn’t the last we’ll hear from the transformed director. Read on for everything we know about the woman who turned the cinema-obsessed fanboy into a family-man softy.

Daniella Pick is the daughter of Israeli pop star Zvika Pick.

A singer-songwriter-composer and one of the ’70s leading pop presences, Zvika Pick is like the Prince of the Middle East. Now, that’s just an observation—not an official branding—but he, like the late High Priest of Pop, doesn’t shy from pushing the boundaries.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Zvika caused quite the stir with the original Hebrew version of the Broadway sensation Hair when he and his fellow cast members “stripped down to their birthday suits, causing uproar across the country, as well as in political circles, and left an indelible mark on the national psyche.”

Daniella is also a singer.

According to News.com.au, Daniella was one-half of a short-lived sisters duo whose career kicked off in the early 2000s. She and her sibling, Sharona Pick, are best known for their pop single, “Hello, Hello,” which the two performed for a Eurovision singing competition in 2005. Later, Daniella launched a solo career and found success with songs including “More or Less” and “Love Me.”

Daniella met Quentin in 2009 while he was promoting Inglourious Basterds.

Newsday reported in November 2018 that Tarantino and Pick met while Tarantino was in Israel in 2009 promoting the peculiarly titled Inglourious Basterds. Shortly after, they started dating, with red carpet paparazzi capturing their blossoming romance at the Los Angeles premiere of Drew Barrymore’s roller derby flick, Whip It, in September.

Newsday went on to say that the pair broke up soon afterward, but got back together almost a decade later in summer 2016.

The cast of Pulp Fiction reunited at their engagement party, and again at their wedding.

In June 2017, Tarantino asked Pick to marry him. Months later, they celebrated with an engagement party. The guest list? Basically, the cast of Pulp Fiction. According to People, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and others gathered in New York City to honor the happy couple.

Later in November 2018, Tarantino and Pick held their nuptials in an intimate Los Angeles ceremony. They said “I do” in front of about 20 people, including Harvey Keitel, Tim and Eli Roth, and Tarantino’s longtime cinema muse, Uma Thurman. “I just got married six months ago. … I have never done that before—and now I know why: I was waiting for the perfect girl,” Tarantino said at the Cannes International Film Festival, via The Associated Press, while promoting Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

She scored a tiny part in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

Scrolling through the entire cast of Tarantino’s ninth film is a test of endurance—not even the Energizer Bunny could make it to the end. Because countless mini films are nestled into the fabric of the main film, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood provides ample opportunity for actors—even those with little to no experience.

Daniella, whose previous two screen credits are relegated to television, scored a role in OUATIH as Daphna Ben-Cobo. It’s actually a tiny, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part that comes in the last third of the film when footage of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his leading lady co-star, the lovely Daphna, are promoting their Italian western, Nebraska Jim. See a couple screenshots from the film below.

She’s pregnant with her and Tarantino’s first baby, which he shouted out at the 2020 Golden Globes.

On January 5, Tarantino won the Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay, and during his somewhat polarizing acceptance speech, he gave his wife and unborn child a shoutout in Hebrew. “And to my wife who’s watching from Tel Aviv, who’s pregnant with my very first child, Toda, geveret, I love you,” he said before walking offstage. Toda, geveret is Hebrew for “Thanks, Mrs.”

Pick posted a response on her Instagram, captioning a photo of her husband’s win with, “Overjoyed and so proud of my husband (also for his Hebrew!) @onceinhollywood.”

The news about the baby was actually released in August 2019, with no due date mentioned. As for how just how the happy couple are feeling about becoming new parents: “Daniella and Quentin Tarantino are very delighted to announce that they are expecting a baby,” they said in an exclusive statement to People.

So baby number one is almost out of the oven, but can we as fans look forward to movie number 10 hitting the reel can? We’ll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, tune in to see if Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood will be doing a happy dance at the 2020 Oscars this Sunday, February 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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