When Samuel L. Jackson defended Quentin Tarantino against racism claims
It is indeed true that some filmmakers have their favourites, with Martin Scorsese having a love for Robert De Niro, James Gunn having a fondness for Michael Rooker and Jordan Peele liking Daniel Kaluuya. For American director Quentin Tarantino, this collaborator is, without a doubt, Samuel L. Jackson, an actor who has appeared in six of the filmmaker’s movies, including his Palme d’Or winner, Pulp Fiction.
The iconic Pulp Fiction may be Jackson’s most iconic Tarantino role, but he has also had the opportunity to appear in Jackie Brown with Robert De Niro, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Inglourious Basterds and The Hateful Eight. In addition, Jackson also made a significant impact in the 2012 Oscar-winning western, Django Unchained, with the movie telling of the horrors of the slave trade with the pervasive use of the n-word, causing controversy in the media.
Feeling the need to defend Tarantino, Jackson spoke to several outlets at the time to discuss the honourable intentions of the influential filmmaker.
In an interview which recently re-surfaced online, Jackson states: “It seems like he has enough problems being vilified by himself as a racist because he uses the n-word in his scripts so much, or puts those kinds of words in a character’s mouth”.
Continuing in his defence of the director, Jackson adds: “I always tell people, I don’t understand why they can’t look at his work and realise that every character he’s ever given me has pretty much been the smartest guy in the film”. Indeed, throughout each of his six appearances in Tarantino’s filmography, Jackson has been handed a great number of compelling characters, with his roles in Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight and Jackie Brown sticking out, the latter of which is his favourite of the director’s films.
As Jackson describes, his characters have had “the most dignity and respect, and kind of runs things and is not a fool of any sort and understands a whole lot about what’s going on in life and in the world”. Detailed roles with layers of personality, Tarantino has never written a thin character for Jackson, with the actor concluding, “for him to write characters like that for me would be impossible for a racist to do”.
Revealing the two most important directors of his career, Jackson spoke to Howard Stern in 2019 and agreed that Tarantino was one of those names, though he disputed that Spike Lee had been an influential figure in his career.
Speaking in the interview, Jackson states: “There are other people. I’d say George Lucas,” bringing to light his role as Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel films of the early 21st century. A significant character in the recent set of films, many fans of the sci-fi movie series have asked for the return of Jackson’s Windu. Whilst he is yet to physically re-appear in the live-action movies, he did perform a small voice part in The Rise of Skywalker.
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