Actor Samuel L. Jackson has enjoyed an amazingly prolific career in Hollywood but as he recalls to Vanity Fair in an article titled: ‘Samuel L. Jackson on Being Black in Hollywood’, his ascent to the top wasn’t an easy ride.
Most who move to La La Land have ingrained tales of the chaos that had to be endured in order to gratify themselves with the validity that comes with being on the list of desired talent that filters through the offices of studio heads and prominent casting directors.
Jackson didn’t come close to such treatment until the early 90’s through the acceptance of director Spike Lee, who was hitting his stride and decided to give the up and coming actor a chance to showcase his now cemented skills in the enduring gem, Jungle Fever.
Afterwards, Jackson and his wife the actress LaTanya Richardson made the move to Los Angeles soon after and tried to shred assimilate into a community that was the exact opposite of their New York roots.
As the racial tension escalates across the nation, Hollywood remains a towering beacon of the stagnancy that keeps people of color in a limited arm of the industry as demonstrated through the recent uproar regarding the Oscar nominations that didn’t feature any actor of color.
Jackson’s performance in The Hateful Eight – helmed by longtime collaborator and friend, Quentin Tarantino should have been a shoo-in for best supporting actor but he was left out and fellow cast member, Jennifer Jason Leigh whose role only called for her to be smashed in the face repeatedly ended up garnering the only acting nomination.
But Jackson doesn’t seem fazed by his exclusion especially when he remembers the days when he was faced with the realization that being black in Hollywood was akin to playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette.
While on break from filming the cult classic Pulp Fiction, Jackson decided to immerse himself in a play at the Coast Playhouse on Santa Monica Boulevard.
After exiting Hugo’s restaurant one night after the play, Jackson explains that he and his buddies stood on the corner chatting when they were all of a sudden met with screeching cars and cops pointing guns at them as they yelled for them to get on the ground.
What followed is the all too familiar tale of white cops using their power to assert the guilt of innocent black men and then realizing their folly after the damage has been done.
In the end, Jackson and his friends were let go after it was established that they were not “carrying bats”. But the experience left the distinguished actor reflective and aware as he accepted the searing truth.
“I was thinking to myself, I’m in Hollywood now, on the verge of breaking through, and this is still going on. It kind of put my feet on the ground in terms of ‘O.K., you’re still just another nigger working in town, so you still go to walk softy’. And I still do. Just an object lesson for life in L.A.”
For more of Jackson’s interview with Vanity Fair, click here.