The one movie Samuel L Jackson called a “hard time”
Few actors have careers as far-ranging or as impressive as Samuel L. Jackson. The star of some of the most popular movies of all time and consistent talent throughout his 50 years of work, Jackson has played everyone from mentors in the form Jedi masters and basketball coaches, to hitmen and detectives.
His tenure as super-spy and Avengers instigator Nick Fury in the Marvel Studio’s series of superhero films has seen him partnered with some of the most recognisable actors working today. From his initial stinger appearance in the end-credits of 2008’s Iron Man, Jackson has been the man who gets to tell Chris Evans’ Captain America, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor what to do. He had secured himself as an icon of popular culture even before the MCU and the eyepatch, appearing in Jurassic Park and the Star Wars prequels, along with Pulp Fiction as Jules Winnfield, a defining role.
Jackson’s most recent appearance in his 14 times playing the role of Nick Fury, The Marvels once again paired him up with Brie Larson, who plays the titular Captain Marvel, but has also acted alongside Jackson in both Unicorn Store and Kong: Skull Island in 2017.
Jackson plays a complex military leader, Lt. Colonel Preston Packard, in the film, a man who the actor describes as having an obsessive and darker role that is akin to a ‘Captain Ahab-like’ role, who sees Kong as his greatest enemy after losing a number of his men to the giant, mythic ape.
It was on the set of Kong: Skull Island that Jackson saw the strength of his four-time co-star, Larson. Over the past few years, trolls have targeted her with misplaced vitriol and complaints about her portrayal in the MCU, causing her to be the subject of a tirade of online abuse.
“Brie’s a stronger person than people give her credit for,” the Django Unchained actor said of the Oscar-winning Larson. The two became friends on the set of the John Vogt-Roberts-directed adaptation of the King Kong story, which helped launch the recent franchise of monster-heavy movies from Legendary Pictures. “We became great friends during that particular experience because we were having such a hard time,” perhaps remarking on the gruelling environments of Vietnam that the filming of Kong took place in, with Vogt-Roberts wanting to bring an intense realism to a larger-than-life adventure film.
It’s a natural decision for a filmmaker to make. However, such notions are usually best left deployed when not stuck in the sweltering sweat of a rainforest. Much like the movies of Werner Herzog or Francis Ford Coppola, who both struggled in the jungle to get the picture they were after, Vogt-Roberts not only lost the faith of his crew and cast but, ultimately, would deliver a below-par affair in Kong.
Jackson claims that the time in Kong “[was] not the most wonderful experience for either of us,” but the difficulty felt on set clearly made the actors firm friends, with Unicorn Store seeing Jackson directed by Larson, who had personally cast him in the film. Through press interviews and public comments it’s clear the two actors have a friendship that was formed during difficult and tough conditions.
