In Quentin Tarantino’s *Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood* (2019), there is no single main character; the film is a dual-lead "buddy" story focusing on **Rick Dalton** (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and **Cliff Booth** (played by Brad Pitt).
While Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is a central figure, the narrative is driven by the relationship between Rick, a fading TV star, and Cliff, his loyal stunt double and best friend.
### **1. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio)**
Rick is an aging Western actor characterized by his fragile ego, chronic insecurity, and theatrical emotional outbursts.
* **"It’s official, old buddy. I’m a has-been."**
* **The Detail:** Rick says this to Cliff outside the Musso & Frank Grill after a meeting with agent Marvin Schwarzs (Al Pacino). Schwarzs points out that Rick’s career has devolved into playing "the heavy" (the villain) who always loses to younger stars. This realization causes Rick to break down in tears, setting the tone for his internal struggle throughout the film.
* **"You embarrassed yourself like that in front of all those goddamn people!"**
* **The Detail:** This occurs during Rick’s "trailer meltdown." After forgetting his lines on the set of the show *Lancer*, Rick retreats to his trailer and screams at himself in the mirror. DiCaprio famously improvised much of this scene, including Rick threatening himself with "no more whiskey sour" if he doesn't get the next take right.
* **"Anybody order fried sauerkraut? Burn, you Nazi bastards!"**
* **The Detail:** This line is from a fictional film-within-the-film called *The 14 Fists of McCluskey*. It features Rick’s character incinerating Nazis with a flamethrower. The line is a classic Tarantino "movie quote" that serves as heavy foreshadowing for the film's violent climax.
* **"Well, the fucking hippies aren’t [okay]."**
* **The Detail:** In the final scene, after Rick and Cliff have successfully (and brutally) defended Rick's home from the Manson family members, Jay Sebring (Sharon Tate's friend) asks Rick if everyone is alright. Rick, still holding a blender of margaritas and smelling like smoke, gives this dry, definitive response.
### **2. Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt)**
Cliff is the stoic, capable "cool" to Rick’s "neurotic." He is a war veteran and a man of few words, often acting as Rick’s driver and unofficial bodyguard.
* **"Don’t cry in front of the Mexicans."**
* **The Detail:** Cliff says this to Rick in the parking lot of Musso & Frank when Rick starts sobbing about his failing career. It is the definitive "Cliff Booth" line—tough, slightly insensitive but practical, and intended to force Rick to pull himself together.
* **"Hey! You’re Rick fucking Dalton. Don’t you forget it."**
* **The Detail:** As Cliff drops Rick off for his guest spot on *Lancer*, he sees Rick’s nerves getting the better of him. He gives him this aggressive but sincere pep talk to remind him of his status as a leading man.
* **"Anybody accidentally kills anybody in a fight, they go to jail. It’s called manslaughter."**
* **The Detail:** During a flashback on the set of *The Green Hornet*, Cliff gets into a verbal spat with Bruce Lee. When Lee claims his hands are "registered as lethal weapons," Cliff dismisses the mystique with this dry legal reality before challenged Lee to a fight.
* **"Nah, it was dumber than that. Something like Rex."**
* **The Detail:** During the home invasion climax, a Manson cultist named Tex Watson tries to sound terrifying by declaring, "I'm the Devil, and I'm here to do the Devil's business." Cliff, who is high on an acid-dipped cigarette, laughs in his face and insists the name he remembers from the Spahn Ranch was something far less intimidating.
* **"I try."**
* **The Detail:** This is notably both the first and the last line Cliff speaks in the 1969 timeline. It is his response when Rick tells him, "You're a good friend, Cliff." It perfectly encapsulates his humble, service-oriented loyalty to Rick.