Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino go together like peanut butter and jelly. Buscemi starred in two of Tarantino’s earlier films, helping cement both of their places in Hollywood. Buscemi played Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, a breakout role that marked his first major collaboration with Tarantino. Two years later, in 1994, Buscemi made a cameo appearance as a 1950s Buddy Holly-impersonating waiter at Jack Rabbit Slim’s in Pulp Fiction.
Now, Buscemi and Tarantino are both household names and will forever be remembered as two iconic leaders in Hollywood. Both are still working all these years later, with Buscemi most recently starring in the comedy Wild Horse Nine, which has already garnered outstanding reviews from critics and audiences alike. After premiering just days ago, the movie currently holds a 94% rating with critics and an almost identical 91% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tarantino, meanwhile, has taken more of a backseat recently after decades of taking the helm of Oscar-winning movies. Tarantino wrote and produced the screenplay for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, starring Brad Pitt’s character from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The movie was directed by David Fincher and is releasing in IMAX theaters on November 25, 2026, followed by a Netflix release on December 23, 2026.
All these years later, though, as Buscemi and Tarantino have continued to create legacies in their own rights, audiences can’t quite get over something from years past.
In a recent press interview for Wild Horse Nine with Buscemi and Parker Posey, Jake Hamilton of Jake’s Takes was brave enough to ask what we’ve all been wondering for more than two decades now: Is Mr. Pink (Buscemi’s character in Reservoir Dogs) and the Buddy Holly waiter (Buscemi’s character in Pulp Fiction) the same person?
Following a crew of robbers in the aftermath of a diamond heist, Reservoir Dogs ends with Mr. Pink as the only apparent survivor, escaping with the stolen diamonds. Given his fate, coupled with the fact that Tarantino’s movies all take place within the same universe, it’s a theory that’s always been circulating.
Buscemi immediately answered Hamilton, confirming that he was right, saying, “I mean, of course, Mr. Pink ending up as a waiter. Yeah, that’s the ultimate irony of his life, having to hide out and work as a Buddy Holly waiter.”
That’s not the only crossover between Tarantino’s movies, either. Michael Madsen’s Reservoir Dogs character, Vic Vega, was confirmed by Tarantino to be the brother of John Travolta’s Pulp Fiction character.
There we have it, folks. And thank you, Jake Hamilton, for this courageous journalistic take.
