Samuel L Jackson
Interview By: Dan Portnoy
DanielPortnoy@TheCinemaSource.com
*Click Here For Another Interview with Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson is one of the hardest working actors in the movie business; through the years he's pounded out a number of widespread hits and others that, well, weren't so good. Either way, you can always expect a performance from Samuel, whether he's the lead or gets killed off after two minutes, to be consistently good. It's next to impossible to name every film Jackson has had a hand in because on many occasions he's only on screen for a minute, leaving people questioning whether he was in the film at all. Think you can name them all' Look at his filmography, I guarantee you'll be surprised at least once. But what Samuel L. Jackson (the L stands for Leroy by the way) does best, aside from appearing here and there, is jump into a lead or supporting role. In his new film, Jackson stars alongside Julianne Moore and Edie Falco in the tantalizing, heart-wrenching, edge-of-your-seat crime drama Freedomland.
Based on the novel by Richard Prince, Freedomland tells story of Brenda Martin (Moore), the victim of a horrific carjacking. As she is thrown to the pavement all she can do is watch in agony as the assailant drives off in the car still carrying her four-year-old son Cody in the back seat. Left helpless and desperate with no answers, Brenda, in her frantic state, blames an African American from a local project for the crime. With racial tensions already running high and acts of violence breaking out across the city, the clock is ticking for Lorenzo Council (Jackson), a twenty year vet of the Jersey police force and activist Karen Collucci (Falco), who both fight to uncover the truth of what happened that night and find the missing boy whose time may already be up.
Jackson's character is conflicted throughout the film. On one hand, the projects were where he grew up; he knows the people, knows their families. On the other hand, there is his job as a detective, a job that forces him to hold up the law regardless of where it takes him. For Jackson, the appeal was this conflict, both exterior and interior, and the toll that it takes on this character during the course of the film. 'Having a cop like Lorenzo, who is a twenty year vet who has a very real connection to this housing project'and all of a sudden he's put in this position where they're askin' him the question 'are you gonna be, black or blue'' And the people over here are putting pressure on him and the people over there are putting pressure on him'In prior derivations of the script Lorenzo didn't have all those things to do so all of a sudden it seemed like a very appealing challenge for me, the actor, to get in to.' And over the years audiences around the world have seen Jackson take on a number of challenges, I mean Mace Windu for God's sake, the first three episodes of Star Wars! If that's not a challenge, appeasing thousands upon thousands of Star Wars geeks (no offense), I don't know what is.
When an actor has been in the film industry for so many years, they are able to view certain aspects of the production process in a number of different ways. For Jackson, the movie sets have a way of transforming him and his outlook on what he has to do. 'I tend to see movies sets as a fun kind of playground and all the stuff I need to know and do I prepare myself.' Playgrounds are always fun, no matter how old you get (deep down you know it too) so I couldn't imagine what it's like to 'play' on a movie set. Movie set jungle gym aside; Jackson enjoyed himself through all phases of production. 'Actually we [Julianne and I] had a great time on this film'When we got through with the rehearsal process and we were ready to go and shoot when we got to set, Julianne and I could stand and talk about baseball, basketball, her kids, and at the time she was real caught up in American Idol.' There's just no escaping that damn show, personally I stop watching after the auditions when all the people who think they can sing are sent home, sometimes with extreme prejudice.
Steering myself back onto the road and back to Samuel L. Jackson, I wonder how one man can have such drive; to work the amount that he does in a business that is notorious for spitting people out and draining them of all their energy. According to Jackson, the answer is simple, 'I actually grew up in a house of people that went to work everyday. So when I was a kid somebody in the house was going to work everyday and I think that's what adults do.' And lucky for Jackson he happens to be one of the few working men in America that sincerely enjoys his job. 'I like my job, I mean I'm an actor, actors should act. You go to work as often as you possibly can. If I had my way, I'd do film, television, theater, whatever. It just so happens that my agents and managers seem to think I should continue to do films.'
This guy is everywhere in film and what's more, he wants to be everywhere outside of film too. Television has seen the likes of Jackson before and may not have seen the last of him, because he's all for doing what makes him happy and aside from films, television is the next best thing. But what kind of T.V. would Jackson do' 'Things you like you wanna do. I like Law and Order, I did Law and Order before I left New York when it was just one Law and Order. I like things like CSI, The Wire, The Sopranos, and Deadwood and if I had my choice I'd find a way to be on those shows, cause I like em.' He wants to do as much as he can in the time he's given, because realistically it's all got to end sometime. 'There's just a finite time that you have to do this. Eventually your phone stops ringing and the next new guy comes along.' I don't think that applies here. Hollywood would be hard pressed to find a replacement, let alone a young one, for a Samuel Jackson.
So guess how many films Jackson has in the works right now' Six, well seven if you include the one he's about to begin filming. 'I'm about to start a film called Home of the Brave about soldiers coming home from Iraq, civil readjustment and how difficult that is.' And besides this film and Poker Nights, all four other films are set for 2006 releases. Talk about a packed year. But forget the future, lets talk about right now. Let's talk about Freedomland. It's a crime drama, a film that aims for the heart, a thriller. Basically all the things that get a man like Jackson going. 'I do still like doing films that are visceral thrills that I used to go and see when I was a kid.' And even though you may not want to bring your kids to Freedomland, you can once again experience the work of Samuel L. Jackson for yourself.
