Rosanna Arquette has slammed director Quentin Tarantino's repeated deployment of racial slurs throughout his filmography, describing it as "racist and creepy" rather than artistic expression.
The 66-year-old actress, who portrayed Jody in the director's 1994 crime thriller Pulp Fiction, voiced her frustration in an interview.
"It's iconic, a great film on a lot of levels," Ms Arquette said. "But personally I am over the use of the N-word — I hate it."
The Desperately Seeking Susan star took particular issue with what she perceives as the industry's tolerance of Mr Tarantino's language choices.
Quentin Tarantino and Rosanna Arquette worked together on Pulp Fiction
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"I cannot stand that he has been given a hall pass," she stated to the Times. "It's not art, it's just racist and creepy."
Ms Arquette's condemnation echoes longstanding concerns raised by prominent Black filmmakers about Mr Tarantino's dialogue choices.
Director Spike Lee publicly challenged the Reservoir Dogs filmmaker back in 1997 after the slur appeared dozens of times in Jackie Brown.
"I'm not against the word," Mr Lee told Variety. "And I use it, but not excessively. And some people speak that way. But, Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made — an honorary Black man?"
Quentin Tarantino has directed several films that feature the slur
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Mr Lee made clear he was speaking for a broader community uncomfortable with the director's approach.
"I want Quentin to know that all African-Americans do not think that word is trendy or slick," he added.
The criticism established a pattern of debate that has followed Mr Tarantino throughout his subsequent projects.
The Butler director Lee Daniels offered a similar perspective in a 2022 CNN interview, revealing how his own views on the matter had shifted over time.
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Rosanna Arquette pictured in 2009
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"10 years ago, 15 years ago, I would've said, I would've checked it off as artistic," Mr Daniels explained of Mr Tarantino's language. "But n***** is our word. That's my word. And you have no right to say that."
His comments reflected a growing sentiment among Black filmmakers that the slur's usage by white directors, regardless of artistic intent, crosses a fundamental boundary.
Mr Tarantino faced renewed scrutiny following his Academy Award victory for Django Unchained in 2012, a screenplay that featured the racial epithet numerous times throughout its antebellum South setting.
The filmmaker defended his approach in the press room following his Oscar triumph, rejecting accusations that his dialogue was historically inaccurate.
Quentin Tarantino has been branded 'racist and creepy' for the use of the N-word in his films
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"If somebody is out there actually saying when it comes to the word n*****, the fact that I was using it in the movie more than it was being used in the antebellum south in Mississippi, then feel free to make that case," he said.
"But no one's actually making that case. They are saying I should lie, that I should whitewash, that I should massage, and I never do that when it comes to my characters."
Samuel L Jackson, a frequent Mr Tarantino collaborator who appeared in both Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, has consistently supported the director's methods.
"You can't just tell a writer he can't talk, write the words, put the words in the mouths of the people from their ethnicities, the way that they use their words," Jackson told Esquire in 2019. "You cannot do that, because then it becomes an untruth; it's not honest."