Cliff Booth

Cliff Booth is a fictional stuntman and war veteran in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, played by Brad Pitt. He works as the longtime stunt double, driver, and personal assistant of television actor Rick Dalton, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. Their relationship is the film’s emotional center: although Rick is Cliff’s employer, the two operate with the familiarity and loyalty of old friends whose careers have developed together. The film places Cliff in Los Angeles during 1969, when Hollywood is changing and Rick fears that his career is declining. Cliff helps Rick prepare for guest appearances on Western television shows, including work on the fictional series Lancer. Unlike Rick, Cliff is not especially concerned with maintaining a public image. He is physically capable, self-assured, and comfortable performing dangerous work, but his personal history is shadowed by the death of his wife, Billie. The movie repeatedly references rumors that Cliff killed her by striking her with a harpoon while they were on a boat. The event is never fully explained, leaving his guilt and possible responsibility deliberately ambiguous. Cliff’s work brings him into contact with real Hollywood locations and figures depicted in the film. While repairing an antenna at Rick’s house, he encounters members of the Manson Family living at the nearby Spahn Ranch. Cliff drives to the ranch to investigate whether the elderly former Western actor George Spahn is being exploited. He confronts several members of the group and fights Clem Grogan, then speaks with Spahn, played by Bruce Dern. The sequence establishes Cliff as both reckless and protective. Later, Cliff takes Rick’s dog, Brandy, to Spahn Ranch. After returning to Rick’s house, he encounters Tex Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins, who have arrived intending to murder the residents. Cliff kills the attackers with Brandy’s help, while Rick is outside after accidentally separating himself from the house. Cliff is severely injured but survives. The film then connects him with actress Sharon Tate when Rick and Cliff meet Tate’s friends at the Cielo Drive residence. Brad Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Cliff Booth. The character’s relaxed confidence, unexplained past, stunt expertise, and loyalty to Rick make him central to the film’s alternate-history ending, in which the Manson murders at Tate’s home do not occur.