Quentin Tarantino during his guest appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on June 22, 2021. Photo: Screenshot.

Film director Quentin Tarantino said on Tuesday night that he was glad to be stuck in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than another country.

The “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” filmmaker was a guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and talked about currently living in Tel Aviv with his wife, Israeli actress Daniella Pick, and their 15-month-old son, Leo. He said he originally planned on splitting his time between Israel and Los Angeles, but due to the coronavirus pandemic he was forced to remain in Israel.

After Kimmel praised Israel for getting COVID-19 under control “pretty quickly,” Tarantino replied, “Well look, I would rather not have been out of my own country against my will for a year. However, if I’m going to be in another country, the country that handled COVID the best is probably the best country to be in.”

Quentin also discussed learning Hebrew alongside his son. He said he joins Leo in watching Hebrew-language TV programs for babies, and has already learned how to say various animals in Israel’s native language. Tarantino added that so far his son can only say “aba,” the Hebrew word for dad.

Watch Quentin Tarantino’s guest appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel” live in the video below.