Rick Dalton

Rick Dalton is a fading Hollywood television star in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1959, Dalton is the lead of Bounty Law, a black-and-white television western in which he plays Jake Cahill, a hard-driving bounty hunter. The series makes him recognizable to television audiences, but its success does not translate into the kind of film career Dalton wants. By February 1969, he worries that his professional identity has become inseparable from guest appearances in other actors' programs, where he is often cast as the episode's villain.

Dalton lives on Cielo Drive in Los Angeles, beside the house rented by director Roman Polanski and actress Sharon Tate. He regards the proximity as a tantalizing possible route back to prestige pictures, though he has not met Polanski. His closest companion is Cliff Booth, his stunt double, driver, handyman, and longtime friend. Cliff drives Dalton's Cadillac, maintains Dalton's home, and offers calm support whenever Dalton's insecurity becomes overwhelming. Dalton's agent, Marvin Schwarzs, bluntly tells him that his run of villain roles risks making him appear desperate and advises him to work in Italian westerns.

At first, Dalton resists the idea of leaving Hollywood, seeing Italian productions as an admission that his American career has declined. During the filming of the television western Lancer, however, he confronts both his fear and his ability. Cast as the heavy Caleb DeCoteau opposite Wayne Maunder's Scott Lancer and James Stacy's Johnny Madrid Lancer, Dalton forgets lines after drinking and berates himself in his trailer. He then returns to the set and delivers an intense performance, impressing the young actress Trudi Fraser, who calls his work the best acting she has ever seen.

Dalton follows Schwarzs's advice and spends months in Italy, where he stars in several westerns, including Nebraska Jim, Kill Me Now Ringo, and The 14 Fists of McCluskey. He marries Italian actress and stunt performer Francesca Capucci before returning to Los Angeles in August 1969. That night, members of Charles Manson's Family arrive at Dalton's house intending to murder its occupants. Instead, Dalton, Cliff, and Cliff's pit bull Brandy kill Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel. Dalton's use of a flamethrower from The 14 Fists of McCluskey becomes the final decisive moment. Afterward, Jay Sebring invites Dalton through the gate to meet Tate, suggesting the connection to Polanski's circle that Dalton had long imagined.