Samuel L. Jackson finally won a long-overdue honorary Oscar in 2022, but many people feel he should have won an Academy Award before that for one of his many wonderful performances in one of his thriller movies such as the M Night. Shyamalan movie Unbreakable, or Changing Lanes. And one of those many people is… Samuel L. Jackson himself.
In a 2015 interview with ET for Quentin Tarantino’s western The Hateful Eight, Jackson says that the first thing he does when he gets his ballot is enter his own name in all five slots for Best Actor. Let’s face it, it’s highly likely that the extremely prolific actor would have made five movies in any give year.
“I vote for myself every year. The first ballot you get, it says ‘pick the five actors you think did a great job this year’ so if I did five movies, I put my name in Best Actor five times. You know it’s like [mimes writing] Sam Jackson.”
Samuel L. Jackson’s movie career began in 1980. He has collaborated with Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino many times, and had roles in Goodfellas, Patriot Games, Menace II Society, and Jurassic Park in the early 90s. Tarantino’s 1994 cult classic Pulp Fiction launched Jackson to a new level of fame.
His other 90s movie roles include Die Hard with a Vengenace, Hard Eight, A Time to Kill, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Eve’s Bayou, and Out of Sight. He played Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequels, and of course became Nick Fury in the MCU. He will be at the centre of Secret Invasion – the upcoming Disney Plus Marvel series.
Denzel Washington presented Jackson with his honorary Oscar in March 2022. If you love the best 2000s movie that Jackson made – the seminal classic Snakes on a Plane – as much as we do, check out our guide to the best disaster movies.