The Avengers and Star Wars star Samuel L. Jackson opens up about never winning a competitive Oscar. Jackson in 2022 was honored by the Academy with a lifetime achievement Oscar. But the beloved actor has in fact never won an acting Academy Award in his long and storied career.
Jackson notoriously has been nominated for an acting Oscar only once in his life, snagging a nod for playing the hit-man Jules in Quentin Tarantino’s iconic Pulp Fiction. Later Jackson would take advantage of the acting reputation he established in films like Pulp Fiction to land roles in major franchise films, taking on Mace Windu in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels and later becoming Nick Fury in the MCU. Today Jackson is one of the most iconic of all Hollywood stars and is without doubt one of the most quotable actors of all-time.
Jackson for his part doesn’t seem that bothered that thus far he’s only won that single non-competitive Oscar. Speaking to the LA Times, Jackson admitted that he did get emotional while receiving his honorary Oscar this year from Denzel Washington (he even ran over to bear hug Washington during the ceremony) but said that winning Oscar gold is really not the priority in his career. He said:
As jaded as I wanted to be about it, you know thinking, “Well, I should have won an Oscar for this or should have won for that and it didn’t happen,” once I got over it many years ago, it wasn’t a big deal for me. I always have fun going to the Oscars. I always look forward to getting a gift basket for being a presenter. [Laughs] I give stuff to my relatives; my daughter and my wife would take stuff out. It’s cool. … But otherwise, I was past it. 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 also said that he doesn’t regret passing on any “statue-chasing” roles he may have been offered in the past, insisting that he’d rather be “the guy who does the lines that people see on T-shirts.” He added:
“There’s actors who go their whole careers and no one can quote a line they’ve said in a movie. People go to watch my movies to see how crazy I’m going to be or see how many times I say motherf—. [Laughs] Whatever gets them in the seats.
Jackson indeed has succeeded in his aim of “getting them in the seats,” as he currently holds the title of highest-grossing actor of all-time, his movies having made a combined total of $17.45 billion worldwide. Unfortunately it was also recently revealed that Jackson does not in fact hold the distinction of being the actor who has uttered the most curses in movie history, as Jonah Hill has usurped him for that particular prestigious honor. Jackson indeed seems more upset about losing the most-foul-mouthed-actor trophy, as he recently told Jimmy Fallon he would like a recount.
Jackson has of course spoken extensively in the past about how much he enjoys performing in franchises like the MCU and Star Wars, so it’s no surprise to see him reiterating that he’s happy to go on playing roles like Nick Fury and Mace Windu rather than chase Oscar-bait parts. And this fun-first attitude is indeed one of the things that has so endeared Jackson to fans of those franchises. Jackson certainly is not one to slam the MCU as being uncinematic, instead going out of his way to defend The Avengers and other Marvel Movies he’s starred in. And of course Jackson is set to return as Nick Fury once again in the upcoming Disney+ show Secret Invasion. If that means he won't have time to chase an Oscar, he likely won't mind.
Source: LA Times