The role Samuel L Jackson saw as his best shot at winning an Oscar
Samuel L Jackson has never won a competitive Oscar. In fact, he famously didn’t win the award in 1995 but was caught on camera mouthing “shit” when somebody else’s name was read out instead. Jackson is a name that comes up time and time again in discussions of ‘best actors without Academy Awards’, and when you look at all the great stuff he’s done over the years, you can see why.
The 1995 Oscars marked Samuel L Jackson’s sole nomination to date. He was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for his unforgettable turn as Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction but lost to Martin Landau, who earned the award for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood. At least he wasn’t alone—John Travolta didn’t win an Oscar that year either.
When speaking with the Los Angeles Times in 2022, Jackson disclosed that he thought another Tarantino project was the closest he ever got to a golden statuette. “Everything I’ve done for Quentin has a moment that’s given me an opportunity, from Jackie Brown to The Hateful Eight to Django [Unchained],” he said.
Jackson added: “Django was probably my best shot because it’s the most evil character I’ve ever played and they generally reward Black people for playing horrendous shit.”
In the bloody revisionist western from 2012, Jackson plays Stephen, a senior slave belonging to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Calvin J Candie. While Candie is set up as the initial villain, Stephen performs perhaps the most despicable act, betraying his own people and choosing loyalty to his captors over helping Django and his wife escape. It’s a fantastic twist, and Jackson plays the part extremely well, but alas, while the film itself was nominated for ‘Best Picture’ and Christoph Waltz won ‘Best Supporting Actor’, Jackson was once again left with nothing.
The subject of the Oscars snub was broached by the incredibly brave interviewer, and Jackson gave a suitably fiery answer. “That’s a popularity contest,” he said of the ceremony. “Or so I heard way back when Martin Landau got the award and I didn’t. [Whispers] ‘C’mon, Sam. Martin’s been nominated so many times. Don’t worry. Your time is coming’. Excuse me? I didn’t know that’s how it worked. I thought it was the acting performance that made the most impact.”
Jackson was eventually given an Oscar in 2021, albeit an honorary one. In a memorable moment, actor Denzel Washington read a list of charities Jackson supported instead of his numerous film roles, which seemed to catch the recipient by surprise. “I was shocked,” he admitted. “We don’t advertise the fact that we’re philanthropists, because you shouldn’t. That’s not why we do it. You don’t take a film crew with you. You just do it.”
That same evening, Jackson reunited with Pulp Fiction co-stars John Travolta and Uma Thurman to present the ‘Best Actor’ prize to Will Smith – the same Will Smith that assaulted Chris Rock earlier that same night. “I get to Uma and John, and John says, ‘So … can we rehearse?’” recalled the star. “I’m like, ‘You know what just happened?’ He’s like, ‘What?’ He was backstage not looking at the monitor, looking at his lines because that’s who John is. So we rehearsed, Uma and John danced, and we were kind of oblivious to what was going on.”
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