Charles "Tex" Watson wasn't just another background character in Quentin Tarantino’s 1969 fever dream. He was the engine. When you watch Tex in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, played with a chilling, vacant stare by Austin Butler, you’re seeing a version of a real-world monster that almost feels too caricature-like to be true. But the reality? It's actually worse.
Tarantino likes to rewrite history. We know this. He blew up Nazis in a theater and had Rick Dalton torch a cultist with a flamethrower. Yet, the portrayal of Tex Watson is one of the few instances where the film leans heavily into the actual, documented vibes of the Manson Family’s "top lieutenant."
Who Was the Real Tex Watson?
Before the movies, before the murders, Tex was a college kid from Texas. That’s where the nickname comes from. Obvious, right? He was a football star, an "A" student, and generally the last person you’d expect to become a mass murderer. Then he moved to California. He met Charlie. Everything went south.
In the film, Butler’s Tex is lanky, dusty, and carries himself with this weird, drug-addled confidence. He’s the one who leads the charge into Cielo Drive. Most people forget that in the real 1969, it wasn't Charles Manson who entered the Tate residence to do the dirty work. It was Tex. He was the primary executioner.
That Creepy Line: "I'm the Devil..."
One of the most haunting moments in the movie happens when Tex confronts Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). He looks at him and says, "I'm the devil, and I'm here to do the devil's business."
Most viewers probably think that’s classic Tarantino dialogue.
It’s not.
Those were the exact words the real Tex Watson allegedly spoke to Wojciech Frykowski during the actual Tate murders. By keeping that line, Tarantino anchors his revisionist fantasy in a very dark reality. It creates this friction. You have the "cool" 60s aesthetic clashing with a literal quote from a massacre. It’s effective because it reminds the audience that while Rick Dalton is fictional, the threat Tex represents was very much alive.
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Austin Butler’s Transformation Before Elvis
We all know Austin Butler now as the guy who couldn't stop talking like Elvis Presley for three years. But his turn as Tex in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was his actual breakout for cinephiles. He didn't have much screen time. He didn't need it.
He captured the "Spahn Ranch" look perfectly. If you’ve ever seen the archival footage of the Manson girls or Watson during the trials, there’s this specific look in their eyes. It’s not just "crazy." It’s a total lack of ego. They look like they’ve been hollowed out. Butler nails that. He plays Tex as a man who has completely outsourced his soul to a failed musician living in the desert.
The way he sits on that horse at the ranch? Rigid. Controlled. He’s the enforcer. When Cliff Booth shows up to check on George Spahn, Tex is the one who tries to gatekeep the property. It’s a standoff between the Old Hollywood masculinity of Cliff and the New Age, nihilistic "revolution" of Tex.
The Spahn Ranch Confrontation
The tension at Spahn Ranch is arguably the best sequence in the film. It feels like a horror movie. When we see Tex in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood riding back to the ranch, there’s this immediate shift in tone. The sun is bright, but the mood is pitch black.
Real-life Spahn Ranch was a dump. It was a former movie set for Westerns that had rotted into a commune. Tarantino uses Tex to represent the corruption of that Western ideal. Here is a kid from Texas—a "cowboy" in name and origin—who has turned into a predator.
- The Arrival: Tex rides in, silhouetted like a hero, but his intentions are purely malicious.
- The Standoff: He tries to intimidate Cliff, but Cliff is too old-school to be scared of a "hippie."
- The Reveal: We realize that Tex isn't just a follower; he's the one Charles Manson trusts to handle the "business" side of their madness.
What Actually Happened on August 9, 1969?
In the movie, Tex and his crew decide to pivot. They recognize Rick Dalton from Bounty Law and decide to kill the actors who "taught them to kill" instead of following through with the Tate murders. It’s a brilliant meta-commentary.
But we have to look at the facts for a second. In real life, there was no Rick Dalton. There was no pitbull named Brandy to save the day.
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Tex Watson led Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Linda Kasabian to 10050 Cielo Drive. He cut the phone lines. He climbed the pole. He was the one who shot Steven Parent in the driveway. While the film gives Tex a somewhat "pathetic" end—getting his face kicked in and his hand bitten—the real history is much more somber.
The Trial and the Prison Years
Watson fled to Texas after the murders. He was eventually extradited and stood trial. He didn't get the "flamethrower treatment." Instead, he was sentenced to death, which was later commuted to life in prison when California briefly abolished the death penalty in 1972.
Honestly, the most bizarre part of the Tex Watson story isn't the murders. It’s what happened after. He became a born-again Christian. He got married while in prison (back when conjugal visits were a thing). He fathered four children from behind bars. He even released an autobiography titled Will You Die For Me?
The contrast between the Tex we see in the movie—a violent, unwashed cultist—and the real Watson, who spent decades as a prison minister, is jarring. It’s a reminder that real-life villains don't always disappear in a burst of cinematic violence.
Why Tarantino’s Version of Tex Matters
Some critics argued that Tarantino was being irresponsible by making the Manson followers look like bumbling idiots in the finale. But if you look at Tex in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, he isn't just a joke. Until the moment the dog attacks, he is genuinely terrifying.
Tarantino is doing something specific here. He’s stripping away the "mystique" of the Manson Family. For decades, pop culture has treated Tex Watson and Manson as these brilliant, dark geniuses. By having Tex lose a fight to a stuntman and a dog, Tarantino is saying: "You aren't special. You're just a kid who got lost in the desert."
It's a deconstruction of the "outlaw" myth.
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The Car Scene
Remember the long drive up the hill in the beat-up Ford? The muffler is dragging. The car sounds like it’s dying. This is one of those tiny details where Tarantino gets the history right. The Manson followers really did drive a car that was barely functional.
They weren't an elite squad of assassins. They were high, they were hungry, and they were desperate.
The film captures that desperation. When Tex is sitting in that car, he’s nervous. You can see it in Butler’s performance. He’s trying to psyche himself up. He’s trying to be the "devil" he claims to be, but he’s also just a guy in a dirty shirt sitting in a muffler-less car.
The Legacy of the Performance
Austin Butler's Tex remains one of the most underrated performances in the film. While Leo and Brad got the Oscars and the glory, Butler provided the necessary stakes. Without a believable threat, the ending doesn't work. You need to believe that this guy is capable of the atrocities he committed in real life for the "miracle" of the ending to feel earned.
Interestingly, Butler reportedly stayed in character on set. He avoided the "fun" parts of the production to maintain that sense of isolation. It worked. Even when he’s just standing in the background at Spahn Ranch, you’re looking at him. You’re waiting for the explosion.
What You Should Do Next
If you’re fascinated by the intersection of Hollywood myth and the grim reality of 1969, don't just stop at the movie.
- Read "Chaos" by Tom O'Neill: This is the definitive book if you want to fall down a rabbit hole. It explores the potential CIA links and the absolute mess that was the Manson investigation. It’ll make you look at the Spahn Ranch scenes in the movie very differently.
- Watch the Manson Trial Footage: Look at Tex Watson’s demeanor during his testimony. Compare it to Austin Butler’s physical language. The mimicry is actually incredible once you see the source material.
- Listen to the "You Must Remember This" Podcast: Karina Longworth did a massive series on the Manson Family that contextualizes exactly why the summer of '69 felt the way it did. It helps explain why the neighbors in the film were so oblivious—and then so terrified.
The reality of Tex Watson is a lot less "cool" than a Tarantino movie, but it's a vital piece of American history that changed Los Angeles forever. The film gives us the ending we wanted, but the history reminds us why we needed that fantasy in the first place.