Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson are a match made in Hollywood. The actor has appeared in so many of the director’s films, that it’s almost impossible to imagine a Tarantino film without him.
From Inglourious Basterds to The Hateful Eight and more, Jackson has been a part of the director’s best ventures. In fact, the director went with him for a critically acclaimed film even though the actor was initially the second choice for the role.
Samuel L. Jackson Was The Second Choice Of Quentin Tarantino In His 1994 Film
Pulp Fiction (1994) by Quentin Tarantino is considered a modern classic. The film received seven Oscar nominations and even won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It also took home $213 million at the global box office. The film stars John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in the lead roles of Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield.
But both of them weren’t the first choice for the roles. As per author Don Winslow, Michael Madsen, and Laurence Fishburne were the original choices of Tarantino. While Fishburne and Madsen would probably have been great in the leading roles, it can’t be denied that Travolta, and especially Jackson made the characters iconic.
As such, it would have been a travesty to not cast Samuel L. Jackson. However, that’s not to say that he wouldn’t have been a part of the film at all if he hadn’t gotten one of the leading parts. Winslow revealed that Tarantino had shortlisted the Marvel star for the role of Marcellus Wallace as well. However, that character ultimately went to Ving Rhames.
Samuel L. Jackson Revealed Why He And Quentin Tarantino Work So Well Together
Samuel L. Jackson and Quentin Tarantino are an underrated director and actor pair. Both of them have worked together multiple times and clearly hold each other in high regard. But why is this pairing so successful? It’s because they mesh well together. Jackson said:
“There’s just something very natural in our connection in terms of his art and my talent that mesh in a beautiful and wonderful and creative, joyous, ecstatic, o*gasmic kinda way”.
The actor also defended the director from racism accusations by stating that he has never given him a dumb character to play. The Hateful Eight star said:
“He [Tarantino] has enough problems being vilified himself as a racist because he uses n***er in his scripts that much, or puts those kinds of words in a character’s mouth. I always tell people, I don’t understand how they can’t look at his work and realize that every character he’s ever given me has pretty much been the smartest character in the film.”
Will Samuel L. Jackson and Quentin Tarantino team up once again for the director’s reported last film, titled The Movie Critic? Fans certainly hope that Tarantino gathers a stellar cast that will do his last film project justice.
Pulp Fiction is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Independent
