Samuel L. Jackson has only one Oscar nomination to his name (a supporting actor bid for Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”), which is downright shocking considering the handful of iconic roles in his filmography. The Los Angeles Times recently expressed shock over the fact that Jackson’s other Tarantino roles did not garner him Oscar nominations, to which the actor somewhat agreed.
“Everything I’ve done for Quentin has a moment that’s given me an opportunity, from ‘Jackie Brown’ to ‘The Hateful Eight’ to ‘Django [Unchained],’” Jackson said. “‘Django’ was probably my best shot [at an Oscar] because it’s the most evil character I’ve ever played and they generally reward Black people for playing horrendous shit.”
Jackson starred in “Django Unchained” as Stephen Warren, the head house slave for the villainous Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). With Jackson’s career tied in part to Tarantino, it’s not a stretch to assume the actor will somehow be involved in Tarantino’s next movie. The director is sticking to his plan to retire from feature filmmaking after his 10th film, which is next in line.
“I don’t know. He’ll tell me or he won’t tell me,” Jackson said when asked if he’ll star in Tarantino’s final movie. “I didn’t hear from him at all when he did the Hollywood movie [‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’]. Usually, he’ll call me and say he’s doing something and ask how I feel about it. Like when he did the Nazi movie [‘Inglourious Basterds’], he was like, ‘There’s nothing for you in this.’ ‘I can learn how to speak French.’ ‘No, I’m having a French guy.’ So I did the voice-over about celluloid and the movies.”
Even though Jackson has yet to be nominated for another Oscar following “Pulp Fuction” (he was awarded an honorary statue earlier this year), the actor doesn’t mind. As he previously said, “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. I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or having fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand.”
Jackson is currently in the Emmy race for his performance in “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.” The series is now streaming on Apple TV+.
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