Pam Grier Reflects on Working with Iconic Directors John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino

Pam Grier's impressive resume includes roles in films by John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino, and the actress is taking time to look back on her time working with both directors. Grier's newest role comes in the newest edition of the Prime Video horror anthology series, Them: The Scare, where she joins Deborah Ayorinde, Luke James, and more. However, many fans will remember Grier for her appearances in films by Carpenter and Tarantino, two of the most iconic filmmakers in Hollywood. It would be hard for anyone to compare the two directors or choose a favorite, but luckily Pam Grier was kind enough to share her thoughts.

ComicBook.com spoke to Pam Grier ahead of the release of Prime Video's Them: The Scare, where she was asked if she had a preference between working with John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino. "Well, John [Carpenter] plays guitar in a rock band, and I've always wanted to be a drummer in a band," she said. "But Quentin [Tarantino] watched all my videos, and he and I can talk movies for three days, five days. Just style, black and white... everything he taught me to be a filmmaker as I'm going to direct and produce. But the fact that there's things we missed, and he does not. Quentin can find the smallest essence of a word, dialogue, and when he put me in Reservoir Dogs... c'mon now. How's he going to bring Foxy Brown in Reservoir Dogs, a show full of men and named after coloreds?"

She added, "But they're both... Quentin is more reality, John is fantasy. Because he got me to play Hershe Las Palmas, where I was a female actor playing a man who becomes a woman. So they're both unique in so many ways, and I was honored to work with both of them." 

What is Prime Video's Them: The Scare about?

THEM will once again be set in Los Angeles (the first installment, subtitled Covenant, took place in Compton circa 1952 but will move the time frame forward to 1991). The story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor's edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family…

The series cast includes Deborah Ayorinde (Riches, Harriet) as "Detective Dawn Reeve," Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, Bones, Ghost of Mars, Jackie Brown) as "Athena," Grammy-nominated musician and actor Luke James (The Chi, Insecure)  as "Edmund Gaines." Rounding out the cast are Joshua J. Williams (Cloak & Dagger, Mudbound), Jeremy Bobb (The Continental, God's Country), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Narcos), Carlito Olivero (This Is Me... Now, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions), Charles Brice (Homeland, The Blacklist, Watchmen), and Iman Shumpert (The Chi).

The first episode of Them: The Scare will premiere on Prime Video on April 25, 2024.