ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MORRIS
His first film was in 1972, "Together for Days." For more than 15 years Jackson struggled, learning his craft, playing minor roles on television and in such films as "Coming to America" (1988) and "Sea of Love" (1989). But his career picked up steam and has been rolling ever since. Among his many films:
"Jungle Fever" (1991)
"Jurassic Park" (1993)
"Pulp Fiction" (1994)
"Die Hard: With a Vengeance" (1995)
"Eve's Bayou" (1997)
"Jackie Brown" (1997)
"The Negotiator" (1998)
"Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" (1999)
"Rules of Engagement" (2000)
"Shaft" (2000)
"The Caveman's Valentine" (2001)
"The 51st State" (2001)
"Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones" (2002)
"S.W.A.T." (2003)
"Kill Bill: Vol. 2" (2004)
"Coach Carter" (2005)
"xXx State of the Union" (2005)
"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" (2005)
"Snakes on a Plane" (2006)
"Black Snake Moan" (2006)
"Home of the Brave" (2006)
"Cleaner" (2007)
"1408" (2007)
"Resurrecting the Champ" (2007)
Samuel L. Jackson movies are coming out of the studios at an assembly-line pace - two, three, four a year.
His latest, "Resurrecting the Champ," hits theaters Friday. He has five more - "The Spirit" (based on the comic book), "Lakeview Terrace," "Iron Man," "Jumper" and "Cleaner" - in various stages of production.
The 58-year-old actor has made more than 70 films. His favorite? The 1996 thriller "The Long Kiss Goodnight."
"I like that one because it was great and I had a great time doing it with Geena (Davis), even though it was kind of miserable because the average temperature was minus 40 degrees, something like that," Jackson said. "We had a great time doing it. I think it's one of the best action movies ever made. Women really love that picture when they discover it. They like to see themselves empowered in that way."
Jackson was in town recently to promote "Resurrecting the Champ," a fictionalized version of a true story about a former boxer who is discovered living on the streets. A couple of the scenes were shot in Las Vegas.
Q:
What interested you most about the script?
I liked the relationship aspect of the film more than anything else. People talk about the boxing and the different things, but the relationship between Champ and Erik, the relationship between Champ and this alter ego of his that has become his truth, the relationship that Champ sort of establishes with Erik's son and what it means to him and the relationship that Erik had with his own father is kind of amazing - and the relationship that all these characters have with the truth in this particular film, because it's kind of tenuous.
How did you prepare for the role?
My basic preparation to do a film - to go inside a character and look in his head, see what I thought his processes were, what his educational background was. A lot of information was there, so I didn't have to make it up this time. What his background is. What kind of parents he had. Did he have any military service? What are his specific skills to carry him through life? Is he smart? Is he facile? Is he average? Just how he feels about the place he is in right now in terms of being OK with being in this particular place, because he knows life deals you kind of harsh blows - but like he says to (former world middleweight champion) Jake LaMotta on the phone, "I'm just homeless. I'm not a bum." Big difference.
Did you have to live with the homeless to get into character?
No, no. I actually did a film about another homeless character, "The Caveman's Valentine." That particular character was a paranoid schizophrenic who was on the street. He lived in a cave in a park ... I've lived in New York long enough to encounter enough homeless people. Interestingly enough there's this guy who's worked on several of the films I've worked on - no matter where I am, if I'm in New York, L.A, Toronto, he's had jobs on these films as the set PA (production assistant) but he never lives anywhere. He always stays in the park. He chooses to live in a park, or outdoors somewhere, rather than get an apartment or hotel room or whatever ... He's got his stuff in his bags. He comes to work with his bags.
Why did this character you portray choose to live this way? He isn't crazy.
No, he's not crazy ... I think the story he has created for himself, or the place that he has put himself in, doesn't allow him to be in a particular place because he has fixated on this one particular thing that is supposedly his family - or where he used to be - and he can't go back there. And unless he can go back there he's not going to be anywhere but this particular place behind this store, which is his space. He's claimed that space. He's not homeless. That's his home. He just doesn't receive mail there.
What criteria do you use in choosing your roles?
The story first. I always look at a story, I read a story and I try and visualize myself in it. Or I see it on a screen while I'm reading it and say, "Would I pay to go see it?" and then , "Would I pay to see me in it?" Sometimes people send me a script and they want me to read one particular character and I find another character ... that I like better or that I think makes more sense for me because I don't have the time to do the major role or the major role needs to be someone else. I don't have the kind of ego that says I have to be the star of every film that I'm in. I just look for interesting stories.
Like "Snakes On a Plane"?
Yes. Movies that I like. I grew up watching that kind of movie. You go to the movies on Saturday sometimes just to have fun. I didn't find out people went to the movies to be profoundly moved until I was much older.
You turn out a lot movies. Is it hard work?
It's tough, but I actually grew up in a house where all the grown people left home every day and went to work, so I pretty much assumed that's what you did when you grew up. You go to work. And I have a great job. I love it. Why wouldn't I go do it? ... Most people would be shocked to see what happens on a movie set. I go to work at 6 in the morning and I might go home at 8:30 at night. Out of a 12- or 13-hour day I might spend an actual hour and a half working. The rest of that time is spent waiting, preparing, rehearsing what we're going to do. The work is free, we get paid to wait.
You've worked with director Quentin Tarantino several times - "True Romance," "Pulp Fiction," "Jackie Brown" and "Kill Bill: Vol. 2." Will you work with him again?
It's hard to say. Quentin works every four or five years. I have to work a little more regularly than that. If I'm not busy when he's ready to go, yeah ... I would love to work with Quentin again. In fact, theoretically he's been writing a script for the last 10 years that we are supposed to do together.
What do you do when you're not working?
I play a lot of golf. I watch a lot of movies. I read a lot. I'm always looking for projects, looking for properties to buy. I'm constantly searching for films. My wife complains about that a lot. "All you do is work." Well, it just looks like work to you, but I'm enjoying it.
No causes to support?
We all have our causes. I belong to a group called Artists for a New South Africa. Among other things we support a couple of orphanages. We dig wells. We build schools and stuff. We go over there and see kids. We actually discovered a village full of kids, all the parents are dead, died from AIDS, so we adopted the whole village. Built a school for them. They eat at the school. Some of them don't eat the whole weekend, till school starts on Monday, so we're trying to figure out how to deal with that.
Are you politically active?
I'm a product of the '60s. I get even angrier now. I'm paying more attention. I have opinions about the administration and what's going on now. I'm really sorry these kids today don't have the fire that we had, because the streets would be full right now; they should be full right now - but they're not, unfortunately ... I have an opinion about actors that kind of step on soap boxes, shout out their opinions and try to influence the way other people think, only because people think that we are smart and that we know so much - we don't and we're not. I think a lot of times we're better served by keeping our opinions to ourselves and just lending our time and money to an effort, more so than our voices.
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