Rosanna Arquette has criticised filmmaker Quentin Tarantino for repeatedly using the N-word in his films, saying she believes the language should not be defended as artistic expression.

The actress, who appeared in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction as the wife of a drug dealer named Lance, played by Eric Stoltz, reflected on the film and Tarantino’s dialogue in a recent interview with The Times.

While acknowledging the film’s reputation, Arquette said she is uncomfortable with the director’s continued use of the racial slur in his work. “It’s iconic, a great film on a lot of levels,” she said of Pulp Fiction. “But personally I am over the use of the N-word — I hate it.”

Arquette added that she believes Tarantino has been allowed to use the word without sufficient criticism within the industry. “I cannot stand that he has been given a hall pass,” she said. “It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy.”

Debate over the director’s use of the word has surfaced several times throughout his career. Filmmaker Spike Lee publicly criticised Tarantino in the late 1990s after the word appeared repeatedly in the crime film Jackie Brown.

Lee added, “I want Quentin to know that all African Americans do not think that word is trendy or slick.”

Director Lee Daniels also questioned the practice in a 2022 interview with CNN. “Ten years ago, 15 years ago … I would’ve checked it off as artistic,” he said. “But ‘n—–‘ is our word. That’s my word. And you have no right to say that.”

Tarantino previously defended his writing following criticism of the language used in Django Unchained. “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.

Actor Samuel L. Jackson, who has appeared in several Tarantino films including Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, has defended the director’s approach to dialogue.