Samuel L. Jackson on the Oscars: “they reward black people who play horrible shit”

Samuel L. Jackson is a fundamental pillar of the history of American cinema but, until this year he was awarded the 2022 Honorary Oscar, the statuette had not passed through his hands. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated with all genres, generations and audiences around the world,” said Academy President David Rubin.

“I have never let the Oscars be a measure of my success or failure as an actor.. My yardstick for success is my happiness,” says the actor in an interview with Los Angeles Times. “Am I satisfied with what I do? I’m not going to make movies that chase statues. You know, ‘if you make this movie, you’ll win an Oscar.’ No thanks. I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or have fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in hand“.

Oscar Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994), an award that he lost to Martin Landau from ‘Ed Wood’ (Tim Burton, 1994), the interpreter has not returned to be a candidate for one of the Academy Awards despite his extensive career, especially brilliant in his appearances in Quentin Tarantino’s Best Movies.

“Everything I’ve done for Quentin has had a moment that has given me a chance, from ‘Jackie Brown’ to ‘The Hateful Eight’ to ‘Django [Desencadenado]'” says Jackson. “‘Django’ was probably my best chance [para un Oscar] because he’s the most evil character i’ve ever played and they usually reward black people for playing horrible shit“.

Born in Washington 73 years ago, he graduated in drama in 1972. He began appearing in television series and in small roles, such as ‘The Prince of Zamunda’. Hence, his career has more than a hundred films to date, and more that continue to be added.

It has an enviable repertoire of titles for any actor or actress. He has worked with some of the most important filmmakers of recent yearsbecoming one of the best ‘plot twists’ of M. Night Shyamalan films and being indispensable for the aforementioned Tarantino, with whom he has worked on several occasions in titles such as ‘Pulp Fiction’ (1994), ‘Jackie Brown’ ( 1997), ‘Django Unchained’ (2012) and ‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015), without a doubt, some of Samuel L. Jackson’s best films.

“I don’t know. He will call me or he won’t call me,” he says, becoming one of the hallmarks of Tarantino’s cinema. “I didn’t hear from him when he made the Hollywood movie [‘Érase una vez en… Hollywood’]. He usually calls me to tell me he’s going to do something and asks me what I think. Like when he made the movie about the Nazis [‘Malditos bastardos’]. He told me: ‘There is nothing for you in this.’ ‘I can learn to speak French’. ‘No, I’m going to have a French’. So I did the voice over on celluloid and movies.”