The only three movies Samuel L Jackson was warned not to make: “Maybe they were right”
When you’ve made as many movies as Samuel L Jackson, some of them are inevitably going to suck, such is the law of averages. However, he doesn’t care and never has, even when his team are trying desperately to convince him to turn them down.
There’s something inherently admirable about Jackson, a 50-year veteran of the industry, maintaining his love of the game. He’s soared past 200 career credits as a theatre, film, television, video game, and voiceover actor, and he rarely turns anything down because he loves his job so much.
In an era where the biggest stars barely average a movie every year, Jackson is an outlier. It doesn’t matter if he makes a dozen straight-to-video thrillers that barely anyone sees, because the next billion-dollar blockbuster is constantly lurking around the corner to remind everyone why he’s the highest-grossing actor in cinema history.
If a script lands on his desk, there’s a high chance he’ll sign on. It doesn’t matter what it is, who’s directing, or where he needs to travel; the man just wants to act. However, that can often be an issue for his agent and manager, who’ve repeatedly tried to steer him away from projects they believed were beneath their client.
Snakes on a Plane fit the bill, with the title enough to pique Jackson’s interest, despite his team’s misgivings. “My agents and managers have finally figured out that I’m pretty much going to do what I want to do,” he explained to Entertainment Weekly. “Sometimes, they don’t get it. And it’s OK for them not to get it. But it’s not OK for them not to go make a deal because I want to do that particular movie.”
The concept was bonkers enough to go viral before that was a regular thing, even if the film flopped at the box office. Funnily enough, that’s a recurring theme among the pictures Jackson’s reps wished he hadn’t agreed to shoot, even if one of them has gained long-lasting life as the actor’s favourite role he’s ever played.
“The Long Kiss Goodnight,” he added when asked if there were any other examples. “They didn’t get it. They didn’t get The Man.” His agent may have had a point on the latter, seeing as it was a terrible movie, and he didn’t necessarily disagree that they weren’t the smartest moves for him to make.
“Maybe they were right, because they didn’t make a lot of money,” he added. “But I had a great time doing them, and they have a great life on video.” The Long Kiss Goodnight is definitely underrated and deserved better than bombing at the box office, but it’s hard for anyone other than Jackson to mount an impassioned defence of The Man, because it’s shite.
Obviously, he doesn’t care, and it’s a refreshing approach. Plenty of actors who haven’t achieved half as much as Jackson love to talk about ‘the craft’ through steepled fingers, whereas he just wants to have fun, make money, and indulge his love of cinema.
