The one demand Samuel L. Jackson made for ‘Snakes on a Plane’
Animal exploitation movies have always been popular with audiences, with Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece Jaws changing the definition of a Hollywood blockbuster in 1975, instilling a fear of sharks in a generation of young people in the process. Ever since, fantastical animal exploitation movies have been popular, rearing their heads in the form of 1978s Piranha, 1997s Anaconda and 1999s Lake Placid.
Recently, this cinematic trend has found new life, with movies like Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear and Jon Turteltaub’s The Meg arising from the cult success of Asylum’s Sharknado series, as well as the ‘so good, it’s bad’ 2010 film Birdemic: Shock and Terror. Such movies arguably only sparked to life after the success of similar exploitation films released in the early 21st century, with 2006s Snakes on a Plane gripping the contemporary zeitgeist at the time.
Exactly what it says on the tin, David R. Ellis’ Snakes on a Plane tells the story of an FBI agent whose flight with a protected witness is disrupted by an army of venomous snakes who threaten the lives of everyone onboard. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as the FBI agent, the bizarre, camp exploitation film takes a number of strange twists and turns, using the thousands of reptile enemies as toys for silly cinematic delight.
Choosing the film to add a bit of zest to his filmography, which includes collaborations with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee, Jackson took the role on one condition; the film went by its alternative title.
Speaking in an interview on the podcast Pardon My Take, the actor recalled how, when the original director was fired from the project, New Line Cinema wished to change the film’s name. “The first day I got there, they were passing out new pages, and they gave me this script that said Pacific Flight 121, and I’m like, ‘The f*** is this?’” Jackson stated, revealing that the name of the movie had been changed in order to keep the concept and surprise.
Though Jackson argued that this was entirely the point of the alternative title, explaining: “You exactly want to do that! I’m not here to do Pacific Flight 121, I’m here to do Snakes on a Plane, and if that’s the name of the movie, I quit”.
He may have starred in a number of iconic movies, including Tarantino’s classic Pulp Fiction and Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, but Jackson isn’t averse to a bit of Hollywood schlock as long as he knows what he’s getting himself into. In a separate interview with Time magazine, the actor states: “I’ve always watched movies like that and they’re funny and more exciting in some ways than doing regular dramas or straight-ahead action pictures…I like to think I have an audience member’s sensibility, and the title just puts it all right out there. You either get it or you don’t”.
A key fixture of the Marvel universe, where he dons an eyepatch for Nick Fury, the organised ringleader of earth’s mightiest heroes, Jackson has always been proud of his role in the series, which doesn’t differ too much from the Hollywood fodder of Snakes on a Plane.
Take a look at the full interview with Samuel L. Jackson below.
