Bruce Dern is set to play George Spahn in Quentin Tarantino’s hotly-anticipated ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The role originally went to Dern’s long-time friend and collaborator Burt Reynolds, who was unable to shoot after being hospitalised due to illness before sadly passing away on September 6th.

Dern and Reynolds appeared together several times over the years and their relationship goes way back to 1965, when they both appeared in an episode of World War II series 12 O’clock High. They also appeared together in the 1999 TV-movie Hard Time: The Premonition and the 2003 Western, Hard Ground. It seems fitting that Reynolds would be replaced by his good friend, who also happens to be another icon of 1970’s cinema.

Bruce Dern first worked with Tarantino on Django Unchained in a brief role as Old Man Carrucan, before reteaming with the controversial director on 2015’s The Hateful Eight in a much larger role as Sanford Smithers – a despicable, former Confederate general who finds himself stuck in a haberdashery with the man who has a deep, personal grudge against him. It was an intense, mean-spirited performance with Dern commanding the screen with a furious presence.

Now, Dern is also set to star in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – a film that tells the story of a struggling actor and his long-time stunt double who embark on an odyssey to make a name for themselves in the 1969 Los Angeles, around the time of the infamous Charles Manson murders.

Dern will play George Spahn, the real-life American rancher who would rent out his property to the film industry as a location for Westerns. However, Spahn is chiefly remembered for his association with the Manson Family, after housing Charles Manson and his followers throughout the late 60s. It is believed that the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate, Abigail Ann Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Earl Parent, Jay Sebring and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were planned by Manson and his devotees at the Spahn Ranch.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has what is arguably the single greatest ensemble cast ever assembled and is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Damian Lewis, Tim Roth, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch, James Marsden, Clifton Collins Jr, Michael Madsen, Lorenza Izzo, James Remar, Zoe Bell, Dreama Walker and, of course, Bruce Dern.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is currently in production and set for release on July 26th, 2019.