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In True Romance, there is a scene where Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken) interrogates Clifford Worley (Dennis Hopper) on Worley's son's whereabouts.

After Worley tries a couple of failed lies, he then decides to give a derogatory history lesson on the Sicilians. This speech infuriates Coccotti to the point where his only focus becomes to put several bullets in Worley's head.

So, before the gunshots, everyone is smiling and laughing and Coccotti says to Worley:

You're a cantaloupe

This is in response to being called another type of fruit by Worley.

I don't understand why Coccotti called Worley a cantaloupe.

Is there any meaning behind this or was he just trying to go tit-for-tat and that was the best response he could come up with?

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  • 1
    this was entirely ad-libbed, as was the laughing
    – user1931
    Aug 21, 2012 at 21:07
  • @ray023 it seems my quick answer is incorrect and I would like to delete it but you need to accept the other answer.
    – EdChum
    Oct 28, 2012 at 22:19
  • 1
    Cantaloupe ==> "Can't elope". Ties into the honeymoon story.
    – user28545
    Dec 10, 2015 at 2:41

3 Answers 3

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This was an ad-lib by Christopher Walken (as explained during his appearance on Inside The Actors Studio). He said "I was looking at his head, thinking what I'm gonna do to it". So he was actually comparing Clifford Worley's (Dennis Hopper's) head to a cantaloupe melon!

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According to Quentin Tarantino, in several interviews, the following two lines from the "Sicilian Scene" were ad-libbed by Christopher Walken playing Vincenzo Coccotti and Dennis Hopper playing Cliff Worley:

Cliff Worley: "... Cuz you, you’re part eggplant."
Vincenzo Coccotti: You're a cantaloupe!

An "eggplant" refers to the italian word "moulignon" or "moolie", which is a racial slur directed toward black people. The cantaloupe comeback was a poor attempt at a racial slur but somewhat humorous.

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It's particularly relevant because it's actually the Italian word for eggplant or a slang derivative that is used as the insult. I would rather not type it but Italians and/or most people know the word. ;)

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