Roger Avary & Quentin Tarantino turn heads with surprising story behind 'Killing Zoe' inspired by Heroin-filled Paris night on Joe Rogan's podcast

Oscar-winning film legend Quentin Tarantino and his screenwriting partner from 'Pulp Fiction' Roger Avary, recently appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The two reached elite status when they penned the story of the aforementioned 'Pulp Fiction', which garnered them an Academy Award for best original screenplay.

Since then have had legendary careers, with Tarantino directing eight more renowned films and winning the same Oscar award nearly two decades later. Meanwhile, Avary also embarked on a directing career himself, starting with 1993's French crime drama 'Killing Zoe'.

Avary talked at length about a rather eyebrow-raising story behind the writing of his directorial debut. As it turns out, the film, which was about a safe cracker who returned to Paris to help a friend do a bank heist, was heavily inspired by real people.

Speaking to Rogan, Avary said:

"I had been in Paris [and] I bumped into a guy that I knew from Los Angeles who was a French guy. He was like, 'Oh I show you the real Paris'. And I went out with him and his friends... He drove me through Paris and next thing I know he's doing heroin... He was like, 'Now we do heroin. Hold my arm.' [And] I did hold his arm. I had never seen anything like that."

Avary added:

"Suddenly that happens and his friends were like 'Oh, doing it through the nose doesn't even affect me anymore' [laughs]. And I'm like, writing these lines down like, 'This is great sh*t' [laughs]."

Check out to their conversation below (28:21):

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Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino tell Joe Rogan how they first met

The Academy Award-winning writer-director, Quentin Tarantino, learned most of his knowledge in film by working in video archives and video rental stores back in the 80's. He hilariously remembers dealing with fire inspection people checking in on the stores, saying (via Joe Rogan Experience, 14:53):

"The local fire department was a customer. So they'd rent different movies but like, it was almost, out of five movies they would rent, four are pornos [laughs]."

Avary affirmed this fact, which prompted Rogan to ask if they ever worked together in a video store. To which Avary said:

"Yeah, that's how we met. Video Archives in Manhattan Beach... Maybe a little bit before '84."

Tarantino mentioned that he was a customer before he became an employee, forging a friendship with Avary in the store. The next thing we know, the two became a powerhouse tandem in Hollywood filmmaking.