The movie Samuel L Jackson watches “eight or nine times” every year
Considering how many movies he appears in each year, it’s hard to imagine Samuel L Jackson finding time to sit down and watch a film. In 2024 alone, he was credited in five different films and had a featured role in the Peacock miniseries Fight Night: Million Dollar Heist. However, because he operates on a different plane from us mere mortals, he somehow still manages to squeeze in a few cinema nights every now and then.
The star has spoken on multiple occasions about some of his favourite film offerings. In terms of movies he’s been in, he’s a fan of Renny Harlin’s The Long Kiss Goodnight, Joel Schumacher’s A Time to Kill, and Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. He’s also brought up the likes of The Raid, Hard Boiled, and The Godfather, but one legendary piece of Korean cinema seemingly stands above all else.
“I watch the original Oldboy eight, nine times a year,” he told Playboy. “Every time I meet someone who hasn’t seen it, I order it and give it to them…. I always wanted to be the crazy guy who runs the place where the main guy gets locked up and isolated.”
Released in 2003, Oldboy (올드보이 in its original Korean) is a classic revenge thriller from South Korean director Park Chan-wook. Choi Min-sik stars as Oh Dae-su, a man who escapes from a hotel room after being imprisoned there for 15 years. With no knowledge of how or why he was confined to this fate, he embarks on a bloody, violent quest to track down those responsible and bring them to justice.
In addition to being gorgeously shot and choreographed – its famous one-take corridor fight scene is the stuff of action cinema mythology – Oldboy is deeply philosophical, a stark exploration of the human condition and the lengths people will go to stay alive. It took the world by storm, much to the surprise of its director, and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, action or otherwise.
As well as being a great fan of the film, Jackson has another connection. In 2013, he reunited with Spike Lee to remake Oldboy in the English language. Jackson credits his wife LaTanya with helping to mend his relationship with Lee, whom he had publicly fallen out with over two decades earlier. “My wife just acted in a TV film Tonya (Lee’s wife) produced and wrote called The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” he explained.
The actor added: “So our wives would interact often, and we would all end up going to dinner together. Our relationship healed over those dinners and conversations. He told me at dinner he was going to remake Oldboy, and I was like, ‘Can I be in it?’”
Unfortunately, the 2013 version of Oldboy, which stars Josh Brolin in the Choi role, failed to live up to expectations. Critics wondered why Lee had bothered to remake something that was already deemed perfect. Combined with pitiful box office takings, this venture can only be deemed a failure.
Still, very few people get to star in one of their favourite movies. Through his participation in Oldboy, Jackson not only got to make peace with one of his most important collaborators but also fulfilled a dream. Talk about two birds with one stone.
