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Not a week goes by without someone asking Samuel L. Jackson if he knows what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris. Sometimes he even acts out Pulp Fiction’s legendary Royale with cheese scene with fans who’ve memorized the script. (For the record, Jackson’s favorite part in the Tarantino classic is actually the “Say What Again” scene.)

You’d think he might want to slow down after a career that has spanned 50 years and more than 100 movies but Jackson - aka S.H.I.E.L.D. spy Nick Fury - isn’t ready to hand up his Kangol hat and eye patch just yet. SPYSCAPE celebrates the iconic actor and some of his quirky movie moments.

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Samuel L. Jackson, the ‘overnight’ success that took 20 years‍

Born in Washington in 1948, Jackson was jumping turnstiles in the New York subway in his early 20s to attend auditions because he couldn’t afford to pay the fares. He was on the stage and getting parts in movies for 20 years before Jackson’s big breakthrough in the ‘90s with a series of iconic roles.

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Do the Right Thing (1989) ‍

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing was a game changer for Jackson. He had a small part in School Daze (1988) and would collaborate on more of Lee’s films including Mo’Better Blues (1990) and Jungle Fever (1991). “Spike was like our savior when we were all struggling actors in New York,” Jackson told Vanity Fair. “Every summer we knew we were going to go to Spike Lee’s Summer Film Camp and make enough money to get us through to Christmas.” Lee recruited his cast in one-minute phone calls a few months before shooting started along the lines of: “Sam! ’Sup? How ’bout the Knicks? Do the Right Thing, this summer!”

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Goodfellas (1990) ‍

Jackson still channel surfs to find his own movies and there are plenty to choose from stretching back to the Miloš Forman-directed Ragtime (1981) to the guy robbing McDowell’s burger joint in Coming to America. The role of Stacks, the gangster who gets whacked by mobster Tommy (Joe Pesci) in Goodfellas introduced Jackson to mainstream audiences - even if he was only on the screen for two minutes.

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Jungle Fever (1991)

While Jackson’s star was rising, he was hiding a secret. He’d been smoking crack since he was 15 and finally checked into rehab at 43 when his wife and daughter found him passed out in the kitchen. In a strange twist of fate, the first role Jackson booked after rehab was as a drug addict in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever. “All the people in rehab were trying to talk me out of it. “You’re going to be messing around with crack pipes. All your triggers will be there. Blah, blah, blah,’” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘You know what? If for no other reason than I never want to see you motherf***ers again, I will never pick up another drug.'”‍

Jurassic Park (1993)

Jackson was still a jobbing actor when Steven Spielberg cast him in Jurassic Park but he couldn’t finish the shoot. Jackson was supposed to fly to Hawaii to film his final scene but a hurricane destroyed all of the sets. Instead, Spielberg improvised in one of the most memorable moments of the movie. The director used a ‘jump shot’- the same type of technique Spielberg used to frighten audiences out of their seats in Jaws. Jackson jokes that he still watches Jurassic Park - but only up until he says the line: “Hold onto your butts.” You’ll need to check out the movie to figure out why!

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Jackie Brown (1997)‍

By 1997, Jackson was starring as gunrunner Ordell Robbie in Jackie Brown, based on Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch. He was also a top contender for the actor using the most curse words in a single film. Jackson swore 6.9 times every 1,000 words (301 times). Even Jackson was surprised then, to hear he only ranked third on the list of top cussers in film history behind Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio, stars of Wolf of Wall Street. “That’s some bulls***!” Jackson said after Jimmy Fallon told him who held the record. 

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999) 

Samuel L. Jackson (the L. stands for Leroy) knew he’d finally arrived when he was at Star War Episode I’s Royal Premiere with Britain’s Prince Philip. The two hit it off after Jackson greeted the Prince by asking, “So, what’s happening?” He then taught the Prince how to answer in slang, until the Royal finally responded: “Just chillin’.” 

Jackson originally told director George Lucas he wanted to be a StormTrooper but decided it would be cooler to be a ‘badass Jedi’. During the Battle of Geonosis in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Jackson asked Lucas to let Mace Windu use a purple lightsaber to set him apart from the 300 other Jedis in the fight scene. Lucas grudgingly relented. At the end of filming, the prop team presented Jackson with his own lightsaber with a special acronym, BMF, on the On/Off button. We’ll let you guess what that stands for.

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The Avengers and Nick Fury‍

Jackson doesn't just read his movie reviews, he goes online and reads the comments beneath the reviews and even interrupts online conversations. Jackson recalls the time he ‘went off’ on a newspaper critic who was dismissive of The Avengers. Lawrence fought back. “I said ‘Dude, this is not high cinema. This is The Avengers. You know? We’re having fun.” One thing led to another and Jackson said his millions of Twitter followers ‘jumped on the critic’s ‘a**’. Jackson laughed at the memory, telling talk show host Graham Norton, ”Apparently we won because the movie made billions of dollars.”

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Pulp Fiction (1994) ‍

Pulp Fiction is the role that almost slipped through Jackson’s fingers. Director Quentin Tarantino wanted Jackson as hitman Jules Winnfield but after actor Paul Calderón’s impressive audition, the filmmakers wanted to be sure Jackson was right for the part. Describing himself as ‘angry, pissed, and tired’, Jackson briefly considered walking away. Instead, he brought a milkshake and burger to the audition. "He walked in and just started sipping that shake and biting that burger and looking at all of us," producer Richard Gladstein said. "I was scared s**tless. I thought that this guy was going to shoot a gun right through my head. His eyes were popping out of his head. And he just stole the part." 

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The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) ‍

And what are Samuel L. Jackson’s Top Five movies starring Samuel L. Jackson? It seems the ‘90s were his golden years: The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996); A Time To Kill (1996); Jackie Brown (1997);  The Red Violin (1999); and One Eight Seven (1997).

And his favorite characters? The Avengers Nick Fury; a combination of three cool Tarantino characters - Ordell from Jackie Brown, Jules from Pulp Fiction, and Stephen from Django Unchained. Plus, Mace Windu from Star Wars.

Fighting for the top spot in his list of favorite characters is detective Mitch Hennesy from The Long Kiss Goodnight also starring Geena Davis. “Love that movie, man,” he said. “Mitch is just this dude and sucks it up and kinda steps in and takes one for her.”