Samuel L. Jackson

Interview By: ZakSantucci
ZakSantucci@TheCinemaSource.com

*Click Here For Another Interview with Samuel L. Jackson

As the interview came to a close one of the reporters
approached this self-proclaimed “badass” and told him
that her dad had played golf with him a couple times.
He replied with “Well then I probably won some of your
college money off of him.” Always professional and
amiable, Sam Jackson is a very down to earth
actor. He answers all questions how he wants instead
of giving some spiel about the movie he’s promoting,
yet still sparks your interest.

As far as the movie Coach Carter is concerned, basketball
may not be his first love, but it still has something
to it letting him enjoy the experience. “It’s a game
we could always get together and play. Something I’ve
always done since I was a little kid until out of
college… Basketball stars are kind of heroic for us,
they can fly.” This is even true when he admits that
the actors playing the basketball players would beat
him for the most part if they played. Referencing the
fact that they went through training and basketball
camps, Jackson says, “I don’t play basketball, I play
golf. They’re young, they run, they jump. I can
shoot free throws better than them, we found that
out.”

Especially since he was working with kids, Sam Jackson
noted that “Well my responsibility becomes greater in
a sense because I have to be an example to these kids.
So I do all the things that you’re supposed to do,
show up on time, know your lines, be in your place,
help them as much as they can sometimes, become a
defender if too much is being asked of them because
they don’t know to say ‘no I can’t do that right now,
I’m tired.’ Show them to respect the crew… Show them
that

status doesn’t make you forget who you are.”
This is in contrast to the role he needs to play when
being in a larger than life role with more experienced
actors, like in the upcoming Star Wars Episode III:
Revenge of the Sith.

In addition to the young basketball players in
Coach Carter, Jackson worked with singer
turned actress Ashanti. He noted that none of
her scenes seemed fake and actor-like, but didn’t get
to see her much on set. When asked about musicians
turned actors he referenced people he’d worked with
from Queen Latifah to Method Man to
Ice Cube. He mentioned that he’ll only do such
when they’ve established themselves as actors though.
“Producers or Hollywood people tend to think because
someone is successful in one aspect of the
entertainment world, they can bring them into this
particular world and make a success out of them. And
when they do that they ask people like me or some
other established actor to be in a film with those
particular people that they’re kind of headlining.
And your name ends up somewhere behind them. I don’t
particularly think that.” He was asked to be in the
first 50 Cent movie but declined and joked to
us, “How does 50 cent get to work with Jim
Sheridan and I don’t?!?”

When playing a movie based on a real person, there’s
always a bit of pressure, especially when the person
is alive and right there. “He [Ken Carter] was
around there a lot, so if I felt he was questioning
something I’d go ask him.” However, the real Coach
Carter was simply amazed that his life was being put
on screen. Jackson got to meet him Carter before
though at a high school basketball game and says of
him, “He was essentially the same type of guy I was.
He believed in education and he believed that people
should

be held accountable for things that they say
they’re going to do…It’s not difficult to stand in
that situation and look at the obstacles that you face
and portray them honestly; in a real kind of way.”
Portraying Carter was easy to do for this reason, and
because Jackson actually believed in what the movie
was trying to put across. “I believe in education and
it’s not often that I do something that has social
significance. I think this is an interesting message
to put out there for kids…Education can’t be taken
away from you.”