The actor who inspired Samuel L. Jackson to “transform”
The career of Samuel L. Jackson is nothing short of remarkable, and over the years, we’ve seen the cinema icon perform in a wide variety of roles, each of which has amazed audiences as to his versatility as a performer. It is little that wonder Jackson was awarded the Academy Honorary awarded back in 2022.
Jackson is as comfortable on the stage as he is on the screen, and his filmography includes countless works of excellence, including The Piano Lesson, Do the Right Thing, and several movies with Quentin Tarantino. There isn’t a narrative Jackson can’t put his talents to.
While Jackson has inspired so many actors who came after him to take to the stage or get in front of the camera, the Hollywood hero himself has something of a surprising inspiration. During an interview with The Telegraph, Jackson once pointed out the actor who made him want to transform.
“I remember when Sir Laurence Olivier died, and I was sitting at home watching television, and they were talking about his career and life,” Jackson said. “As they did, his face morphed into all these different characters he’d played, and I said to myself, ‘That’s the kind of career you should have’.”
Olivier did indeed enjoy a remarkable career as an actor. He dominated the British theatre stage in the middle of the 20th Century, beginning with his first important role in Private Lives before going on to star in several Shakespeare productions, such as Richard III at the Old Vic, Othello and The Merchant of Venice.
The England narrative arts icon also featured heavily in cinema, including classic roles in the likes of Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, Marathon Man, and television, with star turns in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or Love Among the Ruins. It was this versatility that clearly inspired Jackson to move his career in any way it went.
“People should look at you and remember all these things you’ve done and the good memories. That’s pretty much what I decided I wanted to do,” the actor noted. “I was always trying to transform myself like I did in the theatre. I hope I’ve done enough films that everybody who sees my face during my obituary or whatever will be able to say they had at least movies they enjoyed.”
That’s likely why we’ve seen Jackson perform in such varied productions, as a badass killer in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, as a religious man in Cormac McCarthy’s play The Sunset Limited, as well as appearances in Marvel movies. Jackson wants to leave behind a legacy like Olivier did, and it looks like he’s well on his way to doing so.
