Peter Greene And “Pulp Fiction”: “I Was So Excited… Then I Saw The Part”

Peter Greene, who has passed away aged 60, will forever be one of those faces you instantly recognise, even if you can’t always place the name straight away. A magnetic, unsettling presence, Greene had the rare ability to steal scenes with very little dialogue, projecting menace, vulnerability or warped humour with a look alone. His career was packed with memorable character work, but two films in particular have come to define his legacy for mainstream audiences: The Mask and Pulp Fiction.

Born on October 8, 1965, in Montclair, New Jersey, Greene’s early life was marked by instability. He ran away from home at 15 and spent several years homeless, experiences that arguably fed into the raw authenticity he later brought to the screen. He didn’t pursue acting seriously until his mid-20s, but once he broke through in the early 1990s, he quickly became a go-to performer for intense, often dangerous characters.

One of Greene’s most widely seen roles came in Chuck Russell’s The Mask in 1994, where he played Dorian Tyrell, the film’s snarling gangster villain opposite Jim Carrey’s anarchic energy. While Carrey’s elastic comedy dominated marketing and memory, Greene’s performance grounded the film with real threat. For Greene himself, however, the experience was defined less by gunplay and more by endurance.

“That was a lot of fun,” he told Sissy Gamache in 2020. “A lot of work with the make-up but that was fun. Six to eight hours of make-up. That was amazing though because each little piece they put on – it was like 168 pieces. I finally got used [to the process] and they eventually narrowed it down to like five hours but if you looked in the mirror, I couldn’t tell [it was me]. That made it so much easier to play. The special effects people on that film were unreal. And everyday it was a different mask, and each day they would come and put on each of the 168 pieces. It was amazing. They’re such artists.”

The transformative nature of that make-up helped Greene disappear into Tyrell, especially during the film’s darker, more grotesque moments. In a movie often remembered for cartoonish spectacle, Greene’s villain gave The Mask genuine stakes.

Fearless choices

If The Mask showcased Greene’s physical commitment, Pulp Fiction cemented his reputation for fearless choices. Cast as Zed, the sadistic security guard in Quentin Tarantino’s infamous basement sequence, Greene found himself grappling with material that made him hesitate, despite his excitement at working with the director.

Peter Greene as Zed in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994).

“I was so excited when they wanted me to do [that role] because I’d seen Reservoir Dogs. But then I saw the part and I was like, damn. You know, you never saw the guy in Deliverance again. Oh my god, that was a brutal scene – ‘squeal like a pig’.”

Rather than simply declining, Greene confronted the material head-on and pushed for creative agency. “I did ask Quentin if I could improvise the scene. The way it was written was just brutal. You can imagine the way Quentin writes. He was good to his word, he said come in and improvise it. And so I did.”

That collaboration helped shape one of the most disturbing sequences in 1990s cinema, a scene still discussed, debated and dissected decades later. Greene was also generous in crediting his collaborators.

On working with Tarantino, Greene told Gamache, “He’s an honest guy. Very supportive. I came on board and [that part] was a hard thing to do. I give Ving Rhames credit. [Tarantino] was good to his word and that’s all that matters to me.”

Beyond these two iconic roles, Greene’s filmography was rich with cult favourites and strong supporting turns, from Clean, Shaven and The Usual Suspects to Training Day, Blue Streak and The Black Donnellys. Often cast as villains, corrupt cops or volatile outsiders, Greene brought depth to characters that could easily have been one-note.

Greene’s life was not without struggle, including battles with addiction, but his work remains a testament to a singular screen presence. For audiences, his performances in The Mask and Pulp Fiction endure as reminders of an actor who was unafraid to go to dark places, commit fully to the craft, and leave a lasting impression long after the credits rolled.

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