Samuel L. Jackson names the one movie that defines his legacy
The American actor Samuel L. Jackson is one of those megastars who feels like they’ve been a constant fixture in Hollywood since the beginning of the 20th century. Collaborating with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, M Night Shyamalan, Spike Lee, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Jackson has helped to make the world of cinema a better place thanks to a bounty of incredible performances.
First appearing in the industry in the 1970s, Jackson’s profile wouldn’t become prominent until the following decade, thriving in such movies as John Landis’ Coming to America and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. But, it was in the 1990s when Jackson would truly find his feet, rubbing shoulders with the likes of burgeoning newcomers Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Jim Carrey.
In this decade, Jackson would make his most iconic movies, starring in Tarantino’s seminal Palme d’Or winner Pulp Fiction, Spielberg’s extraordinary sci-fi feat Jurassic Park and John McTiernan’s action sequel Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Remarkably, this doesn’t even cover just how prominent the decade was for him, with Jackson also appearing in Scorsese’s Goodfellas, Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight and the first of Lucas’ Star Wars prequels.
Yet, rather surprisingly, Jackson doesn’t name any of the above movies as the one that he would want to define his legacy, nor does he name any movie released in the 21st century.
Speaking to Playboy back in 2013, when asked, “Which of your movies would you choose as your signature, your legacy?” Jackson responded: “If there were one movie I wanted people to look at, it would be A Time to Kill…It’s an American story and a very Southern story. I’d like people to look at that one and say, ‘Oh my God.’”
Helmed by Joel Schumacher, the crime drama featured an all-star cast that included Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey and the father/son duo Kiefer and Donald Sutherland. Telling the story of a fearless lawyer and his assistant defending a black man of murder, A Time to Kill is a beloved and critically acclaimed piece of cinema that is too often forgotten when evaluating the best of the ‘90s.
Later in the same interview, when asked what he hopes his legacy as an actor will be in the future, he adds: “That I was a hard worker, and I generally gave people their money’s worth. That’s all you want from a movie star. I mean, I’m not trying to change the world. I’m just trying to entertain people.”
Take a look at the trailer for A Time to Kill below.
