Summary

• John Turturro was initially disappointed with his role as Jesus Quintana in The Big Lebowski, finding it lacking substance.
• Turturro's discomfort with the role increased after seeing the footage, feeling embarrassed about his performance.
• Turturro later created a spin-off film based on his character, The Jesus Rolls, with a different storyline and received negative reviews.

The Big Lebowski became an instant cult classic upon release, but John Turturro found his performance as Jesus Quintana embarrassing. The 1998 Coen brothers movie follows a bowling-loving slacker named Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) as he gets caught up in the kidnapping of the wife of a wealthier man with the same name (David Huddleston). Nihilists try extorting the Dude, and he has no other choice but to work with the "big" Lebowski. However, the Dude soon discovers there's a bigger conspiracy going on behind the scenes. The Big Lebowski is an intriguing stoner-detective movie and has become hugely influential.

While the mystery, comedy, and ambiguity are typical of the Coens, the beating heart of The Big Lebowski is its cast of oddball ing characters. In addition to Turturro as the Dude's bowling rival, Jesus, there's the short-tempered Vietnam War veteran Walter (John Goodman) and the elusive Stranger (Sam Elliott), among others. Turturro is a regular Coen brothers collaborator, as he starred in their Palme d'Or-winning Barton Fink, the mob movie Miller's Crossing, and so many others. But while there's seemingly tons of mutual respect and iration between the filmmakers and the actor, Turturro didn't have a positive reaction to his role in The Big Lebowski.

John Turturro Was Disappointed With Role Of Jesus

Jesus Quintana, or as the character refers to himself in The Big Lebowski, "The Jesus," is a Puerto Rican bowler with a penchant for the color purple, and he's a typically quirky character written by the Coen brothers. However, he is also a ed pedophile and was incarcerated for related crimes. While he is fun to watch, Jesus is the most hated Big Lebowski character. But that isn't why Turturro was disappointed with the minor character at first. Speaking to IndieWire, Turturro said:

"When I got the script, I was kind of disappointed... I was like, 'There’s nothing here!' So then I thought, 'I better make something up because they’re all talking about him!'"

Turturro is a regular Coen brothers collaborator, so the directors trusted him enough to make the role completely his own. That led to bizarre actions such as licking bowling balls before he rolled and other even weirder celebrations. But Turturro's ultimate discomfort with the role came about later when he saw the footage. The actor itted:

"The first time they showed [my scenes] to me, I was really embarrassed. I didn’t even get the movie when it came out. When I saw it, I thought [Jeff Bridges] was great, but it went over my head."

The Big Lebowski's Turturro Wrote & Directed A Big Lebowski Spin-Off About Jesus

Years later, John Turturro created a Jesus Quintana spinoff titled The Jesus Rolls, based on his character from The Big Lebowski. Given that the idea was completely spearheaded by Turturro, who wrote and directed the movie, he must have overcome that initial embarrassment with the role. Interestingly, it's revealed in The Jesus Rolls that his character was never actually a sex offender, and he was framed for the crime. Unfortunately, outside of giving Turturro permission, the Coen brothers had absolutely no involvement in the movie, which is why it feels like there's something missing in the movie. Unlike The Big Lebowski, The Jesus Rolls received mostly negative reviews.

The Jesus Rolls isn't called The Big Lebowski 2 for good reason. It's a completely different movie from The Big Lebowski, with a more grounded story about Jesus attempting a fresh start. It isn't clear if Turturro was embarrassed by the character because he had made a ed sex offender oddly likable. As the allegations are revealed to be false in the spinoff, though, it's plausible that the actor could have made the movie to retcon what he found uncomfortable about his Big Lebowski role. As the Coen brothers weren't part of The Jesus Rolls, the fact that Jesus is innocent certainly wasn't their original intention with the character.

Watch The Big Lebowski On Netflix

Watch The Jesus Rolls On Amazon Prime Video

Sources: IndieWire