Samuel L Jackson names the best scene of his career: “I had no idea that’s what all that shit meant”
The creative relationship between Samuel L Jackson and Quentin Tarantino has defined an era of unconventional and brash storytelling, with films like Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and Inglorious Basterds becoming hallmarks in the actor’s body of work.
In many ways, it’s a match made in heaven, with Jackson utilising his slick way with words in Tarantino’s fast-talking and high-octane universe. The pair have forged a partnership that now defines the writer and director’s work, with a cocktail of unapologetic creativity fused together to pioneer a wholly unique and irreplaceable style of filmmaking.
However, while many iconic moments now define this legendary collaboration, one scene is the one that Jackson loves the most and recalls fondly when reflecting on his time on the big screen. Pulp Fiction was famously met with endless praise and shock when it rippled through the festival circuits in 1994, causing a divide within the audiences as some people denounced the extreme violence and others embraced it.
It heralded a new era in Hollywood in which independent filmmaking was on the rise, and low-budget films were reaching mass audiences. It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and an Oscar for ‘Best Original Screenplay’, signifying a movement when the Academy finally recognised innovative work and bold creativity.
Many iconic scenes from the film are cited by fans and film lovers worldwide, with people dressing up as Mia and Vincent for joint Halloween costumes as they dance away in the diner or endless references to the French version of a Big Mac. However, the diner scene and monologue performed by Jackson is comfortably one of the most iconic moments in an altogether iconic movie, a sentiment also shared by the actor who performed it.
Jackson described this scene as being his absolute favourite, not just from Pulp Fiction but his entire career. “I guess it would be actually the ultimate scene that everybody turns out to love so much, and it’s the diner scene in Pulp Fiction,” he said of his finest hour. “Everybody loved the killing ones, but the diner scene, just because there’s so much going on when John [Travolta] and I are sitting there having that conversation prior to what happened, and the bullets not killing us, and he’s making this decision about walking the earth just to see what’s going on”.
“So by the time Tim [Roth] gets there, and I have an opportunity to do that speech again, the same speech that I’ve been killing people with, and make it make sense in a whole ’nother kind of way, and, one, it’s just the biggest threat you’ve ever heard in your life,” he continued. “And the next, the dude’s like sitting there making a revelation about who he is and where his place is in the world, and who he actually is… they said that they didn’t know how the movie was supposed to end until I did that scene. But they had no idea that that’s what all that shit meant until I did it.”
As well as revealing an interesting insight into the post-production period and how they constructed the film, it also shows that, like many people, Jackson is enamoured with the same iconic scenes as everyone else and is not immune to the genius of his own performance.
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