In a new interview, Samuel L. Jackson claimed he was done doing roles that would be considered ‘Oscar-worthy’.
Samuel L. Jackson is over the Oscar hype. No, seriously. In a new interview with the LA Times, Jackson claimed that he had stopped measuring his success by how ‘Oscar-worthy’ a role was years ago – and he’s never regretted it for a single second.
“As jaded as I wanted to be about it, you know thinking, “Well, I should have won an Oscar for this or should have won for that and it didn’t happen,” once I got over it many years ago, it wasn’t a big deal for me.” Jackson told LA Times, sharing that while the ceremony itself was fun, he never attended the night hoping to walk out with a trophy at the end of the night.
“I always have fun going to the Oscars. I always look forward to getting a gift basket for being a presenter. I give stuff to my relatives; my daughter and my wife would take stuff out. It’s cool. But otherwise, I was past it.” he said.
Jackson claimed that he had moved past the mentality of measuring his success by the number of Golden men on his shelf.
“I was never going to let the Oscars be a measure of my success or failure as an actor. My yardstick of success is my happiness: Am I satisfied with what I’m doing? I’m not doing statue-chasing movies. You know [whispers]: “If you do this movie, you’ll win an Oscar.” No, thanks.” he said.
Instead, he claimed, he’d much rather be Nick Fury or Mace Windu – roles that he had fun playing, or the ones he would have wanted to marvel at on screen.
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“I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or having fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand.” he said, “I want to do the stuff that made me want to go to the movies when I was a kid.”
Apparently, Jackson also knows exactly what about him reels the audiences in, and he has no qualms about owning it.
“I want to do that movie that people just want to see so they can get out of themselves. That’s the guy I chose to be and I’m fine with it. I’m satisfied because that’s who I am.” he said, referencing some of the most popular pop-culture moments that he’s been a part of.
“I’m the guy who does the lines that people see on T-shirts. There’s actors who go their whole careers and no one can quote a line they’ve said in a movie. People go to watch my movies to see how crazy I’m going to be or see how many times I say motherfucker. Whatever gets them in the seats.” he claimed.
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