The one thing Samuel L Jackson hates about actors: “Well, get another job”
Samuel L Jackson makes being a movie star look like the most fun in the world. He’s always been open and honest about how much he adores his job, and this simple love of the game is why he makes so many films in all kinds of genres. However, Jackson is also a mainstream movie fan at heart, and that’s why he doesn’t choose to spend most of his time starring in arthouse fare. In fact, Jackson predominantly appears in the biggest blockbusters and is perfectly happy to do so because those are the kinds of movies he likes to watch. Hell, he even likes to watch himself in them, which ties in nicely with what he hates most about many of his peers in the movie business.
In 2017, Jackson spoke to the Associated Press about his incredible career, which has encompassed critically acclaimed turns in a host of Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee movies, 11 Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances as the eye-patch-wearing super-spy Nick Fury, and appearances in franchises like Star Wars, Die Hard, Saw, and The Incredibles. When the interviewer noted that most actors don’t always look like they’re enjoying themselves on-screen and in public, but he does, Jackson wholeheartedly agreed.
“Yeah, I do,” Jackson smiled. “It’s one of those dream jobs. I always liked the movies, from the time I was a kid. I did a lot of pretending with my friends, and I did plays and all this other stuff. It just kept going until I finally reached the point where I figured it was a viable occupation to have.”
When asked why he seems to favour starring in “larger popcorn movies,” Jackson pointed to the movies he watched as a young movie fanatic growing up Chattanooga, Tennessee. He admitted, “Yeah, sure, I like a drama. I like being angst-ridden sometimes. But most of the time I want to go to the movies and watch some stuff that makes me go…’That was awesome.'” In truth, he was adamant, “That’s why people go to the movies, and I want to be part of that.”
Interestingly, Jackson doesn’t just like watching fun movies that he didn’t star in – he also gets a huge kick out of watching himself in these kinds of films. In fact, he routinely buys a ticket to watch each one of his movies with a paying audience. Hell, he once told TIME, “Even during my theatre years, I wished I could watch the plays I was in, while I was in them. I dig watching myself work.”
This outlook is highly unusual among actors, many of whom will claim that they hate watching themselves on-screen, as all they see are the flaws in their work. Amusingly, though, Jackson has no time for this attitude – and doesn’t even believe it’s true most of the time. In 2006, he scoffed, “Everybody thinks it’s cool to say, ‘I hate watching myself onscreen.’ Well, that’s bullshit. We’re in a narcissistic business. Everybody likes watching themselves.”
If anything, Jackson believes it’s disingenuous for an actor to think like that. He argued to the AP that a Hollywood star shouldn’t presume their audience will pay their hard-earned money to watch them act if they can’t do the same thing themselves.
The Pulp Fiction icon railed, “It should be fun to do. People talk about, ‘I can’t stand to watch myself on screen.’ Well, get another job. You expect people to pay $12 or $15 to go and see you, and you don’t want to see it? I don’t think so.”
