The Hateful Eight doesn’t come out until Christmas, and even then it’s just a limited release so that the film can be considered for all of the awards. But even though the wide release is more than two months away, both Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson have been doing a fair amount of advanced promotion for the film. Sam covers the new issue of British GQ, which pleased me more than it should. Sam could give lessons in how to give interviews – he’s utterly quotable, interesting, wise and funny. Here are some highlights from the piece:
On Quentin Tarantino’s new film The Hateful Eight, in which he stars: “I truly think it’s one of the best things he’s ever written, if not the best.”
On watching his own movies: “I like watching myself in movies….if I am channel surfing and I pass a movie that I’m in, I’m watching it no matter what. I have a drawer of nothing but my DVDs, so if nothing else, I can just go in and pull one out and put it in.”
On actors who say they don’t like watching themselves: “That’s bullsh-t! Actors that say, “I can’t stand to watch myself”, well if you can’t stand to watch yourself then why the f*** do you expect someone to pay $13.50 to watch you?”
On what’s left to do in his career: “What’s left to do is to be happy and work, as work is what makes me happy – to find projects that I want to do that still excite me… I feel that as long as I can entertain people and tell stories that are fantastic and fun and exciting, then I’ll continue to do this.”
On the Academy Awards: “Some people only do movies that are meaningful and that are going to come out during the Academy Awards season, but I’m not that person. I’ve done enough work now not to worry about getting an Academy Award.”
I agree that Sam is “not that person” to only do Oscar-bait films. He’s not. If anything, he’s a journeyman actor who gets to say “yes” to a wide variety of projects, some of which work out and some that don’t. But like so many journeyman actors who have been in the business for three decades or more, I feel bad that Sam has never won an Oscar. Maybe he doesn’t feel like an Oscar would justify his career (and he’s right), but certainly all of us would feel better if Sam won an Oscar at some point, right? He’s arguably one of the greatest actors working today! For the love of God.
Incidentally, I too love to watch Sam in his older movies whenever one comes on. One of my premium channels has been playing Jackie Brown every other day and I get sucked into it every damn time! Sam is so funny and amazing in that. And does anyone else watch The Negotiator whenever it comes on?
Photos courtesy of British GQ.
I love Jackie Brown it’s such an underrated gem!
I do too. One of my all time favorites!
Jackie Brown= Brilliant
Samuel L. Jackson is a national treasure and it is long past time he was recognized as such with a Kennedy Center Honor.
Now this is a man I believe if he says he don’t give a sh-t about an Oscar.
I think Depp was one of those actors that says he doesn’t watch his films. I call BS as well.
Yas! Die hard Sam Jackson fan here. I think I’ve seen almost every single movie he’s ever been in and he’s been in a lot. And the man never fails to give an interesting interview. He loves movies, loves acting and has zero pretensions about his craft.
Many actors and actresses dislike to watch themselves because all they watch are their defaults in acting or figure.
Many directors dislike to watch their own movies also
I think his comment is hysterical… for him. But there are lots of creative folks who don’t (or find it uncomfortable to) revisit their own work for the very reason you state; it’s not necessarily some narcissistic conceit.
Sometimes – if it’s hard to say when or feel that a performance, a painting, a story, a film is ‘complete’ – you can’t stop wanting to edit it, add, subtract, rearrange, etc. when you come across it again. That can drive you mad, and it has very little to do with either vanity or false modesty.
I’m with Sam. I think they’re all a bunch of narcissists who watch themselves obsessively and protest too much when asked to confess it.
But I’m a mardy old bag.
“mardy” is the word of the day and I’m imagining it being said in Samuel L. Jackson’s voice.
He can call me a mardy old bag any time he likes! I’d get my mardy revenge by streaming Snakes on a Plane on a loop.
He would probably sit down, pour you a beer, and watch it with you, shouting “mardy motherf***er” every few minutes.
I think SLJ could be indirectly talking about this bunch of young actors, many of them going method, desperately seeking attention and praise for their physical and sometimes physiological transformations, that sometimes doesn’t even realize how desperate and try hard they look. I think more and more the people and the industry players acknowledge this: Jake Gyllenhaal, Shia LaBeouf, Ben Foster…they’re doing a piss contest to see who gets the more “wows”. And many times they won’t even deliver a good performance in the desperation of going out of their way to be method. Jake with Southpaw, Ben Foster with the Armstrong movie directed by Frears: Foster took PEDs for the movie, a pointless and vacuous method. Then he proceed to announce it himself to the press to get buzz. The movie is a disaster, a Lifetime tv movie, granted the script is awful but Foster’s over the top performance lacks of any nuance and depth, he’s way too concerned of getting that Oscar nom to really engage with his characters inner demons (and Lance has many of those). Anyway, I’m sure many of these actors will get Oscars and praise, but that doesn’t make them good actors. They choose carefully the roles where they can be showy enough to get the Academy’s attention. A different tune is the actresses case, they often won’t use the method to impress, but a carefully orchestrated PR using fashion and magazines…but that’s another story…
“mardy old bag”
You are awesome.
I love SLJ. Just watched Unbreakable night before last and he is a fantastic actor. Not to mention Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, etc. Also, he does a reading for a children’s book for toddler/kindergarten age children called, ” Go the F*ck to Sleep”. I know that sounds offensive to some, but if you have had children who take 15 hours to get to bed, you will laugh till you cry. Especially with SLJ narrating it. (And no, you don’t actually read it to your kids, it’s for parents only! )
*adding “mardy” to my international dictionary*
Love, love, love Sam!!
This man can do no wrong in my eyes. One of the most talented and versatile actors out there.
Snakes On A Plane.
Snakes is cinematic genious and I won’t hear anything else!
Snakes on a Plane is pure comedy gold!
My drunk movie!
“Coming to America” … always!!!! A childhood classic … 🙂
Ah yes, because receiving an award from a bunch of old white guys is soo important.
Why would he ever get an Oscar, he’s the same in every movie he’s in. I can’t even figure out why he gets the amount of work that he does, he’s way beyond just phoning it in at this point.
You can’t be serious. He’s fantastic. Look at his filmography, so impressive.
His instagram is priceless. Slj forever!
I read recently that if you add up the box-office receipts of every movie he has been in, his box-office receipts surpass that of any other actor. I guess that’s because he has been in so many movies, but I find it a fun stat if true.
The Avengers, Jurassic Park and the Star Wars franchise do help considerably but yes, he has been in a lot of successful movies.
I love what he says about actors that don’t like watching themselves in movies. Spot on.
He is one of the few actors who, when he says “I’m not that guy looking for Oscar baity scripts”, I actually believe him.
He strikes me as a guy who is pretty comfortable with who he is and what he does and doesn’t necessarily need a gold statue to feel validated. Still, I wish they would give an Oscar for being a chill AF bad ass, because he would win all the time.
He has this great talent of giving a quote about his fellow actors without coming across ‘bitter’.
I envy that he is just a great conversationalist and can give good interview about anything.
I watched the Golf Channel to see an interview with him. The Golf Channel, the greatest nap you get when you watch.
I don’t think he’s completely genuine when he says that at this point of his career he doesn’t care to win an Oscar. As he’s honest enough to admit he loves to watch himself in movies, he could also admit that any actor’s dream is to be recognized. Nothing wrong with that. I don’t think he wound’t be happy to get one, right? Because anyone who says the opposite is in denial, or just as a defense mechanism against an industry that we all know works based on how much you campaign and how willing to play the game they are. Sometimes they get it because they deserve it and sometimes because they play the game. I think SLJ is true enough to himself to NOT campaign desperately or play an Oscar bait part, but he’d be happy to get one. I’d be happy too. I cringe when thinking that Reese Whiterspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow have Oscars and Harvey Keitel and Glenn Close doesn’t …and they’re just a couple of examples.
@ Alice
So true.
Samuel L. Jackson has a very good reputation. No scandals in his private life. No drugs. No sex things. And otherwise he is considered a brilliant actor.
He needn’t campaign.
Others need to campaign simply to get noticed.
And yes, it is a shame that Keitel and Close don’t have Oscars. And Whiterspoon and Paltrow merely got oscars because they were the it-actresses of the moment.
The Negotiator! I love that film and SLJ in it!
If I ever became an actress I would have been a journey women actress, being part of the story and cast would be enough for me. Being g the star or lead wouldn’t be something I would be interested in. I totally vibe with what he is saying. He has had a very long and steady career with some great and not so great movies and he’s ok with that.
Sam L does oscar bait films. Eve’s bayou ,Coach Carter, a time to kill ,the red violin. All oscar baity.
For a while I thought he was making what I considered crap movies just for the money. Then I read an interview where he said that he is an actor and that is his job. Just that simple. I don’t think he has pretensions about acting. If someone wants to pay him large sums of money to that job so be it.
I once worked on a really low budget film in which he did a cameo the same year he did Pulp Fiction. The man enjoys acting.
My favorite is The Red Violin. I find him entrancing on screen. He really has a gift, and definitely should have an Oscar by now! I thought he already did. Can’t wait to see his new movie.
He is a wonderful actor, I love watching him. He always seems so grounded and common sense in interviews. Wish more actors were like that.
I love him, and his coat game is sublime. I would wear that in a hot second.
Love this man. He’s handsdown my favorite. He’s long overdue for awards, but it just goes to show that he loves his work and that accolades don’t mean anything to him. And he’s right: actors who say they don’t like to watch themselves are full of it. He’s cool, awesome and on point without even trying.