Samuel L. Jackson
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!!lDH.MYEOD.I=M 0r1lGA SGE]IE WITH III|STIII FFI - II It 0FA SuiltElt, A M0ltTH IATER, I'M Dot]tG THE SAilE Tlilltc WIIH llE lllno. IIEOTHER ]IIGHT MYWIFE SAIII . YOUKI LLED SAMUELL. JACKSONISACTING. EYES BULGING, HEAD sex video. Finished,the actor bursts out laughing. furiously bobbing up and down, the highly lauded "Did you seethat tape?" he asks the lone out- (Oscarand Golden Globe nominated) actor is do- sider. "Manl They did it euerywhere! On the ing his bestirnpersonation of PamelaLee enioying boat, in the bed, on the highway. They should a not-so-private moment with hubby Tommy. have called tt the Where Am I Notu? tape." "Ew, ew, ewl-Wheream I now?" he cries,craning It's a sobriquetthat could just as easilybe ap- his neck to look behind him before letting his eyes plied to Jackson'sown life. Sincehis ferocious ro11back in mock ecstasy. performance as a crack addict in 1,991'sJungle In fact, Jackson is at a lunch table in the com- Feuer,the 49-year-old actor has become as ubiq- "l$hl missary of Raleigh Studios in Hollywood (where uitous a presence in American cinema as that llr he's currently shooting Tbe Negotiator), sur- short list of perennialA-listers - all of them white ,.9 i:i: .ilrr, rounded by guffawing day players who are also - who seem to dominate movie marqueescoast familiar with the tattooed couple'swidely pirated to coast. "I saw you on four channelsthis morn- by DAVISFACTOR US NlARCH 1998 59 ing," says one awed supporting actol "Bet- board of tnstees hostagein order to get a black- and there he was. It was like, "Oh, s---!" I ter watch out. You're going to be the next studiesprogram instituted. Haue you aduised didn't stop doing the scene, but it was 'The Michael Caine." Nonplused, Jackson re- the d.irector of Negotiatol hou to tie up a rolling around in my head: You are acting plies, "I've worked with Michael Caine." hostageor anything? uith Dustin Hoffman! And then a month Forget the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon; if fGrins] No. It never came up. later I'm doing the same thing with De Jackson keeps up his nonstop work pace Hou d.id you bar those trusteesfrom leauing Niro: Damn! You're doing a scenewith De (30 films in the past six years),he'll be con- the room? Niro? Yes!The other night, my wife said, 'We nected to everyone in just one step. This took some chains from the grounds, "You killed De Niro." And I was like, past year he went one-on-one with every- bought some padlocks from the hardware "Yeah, I did, didn't I? I did!" one from Robert De Niro (JachieBrownl store, and went into the building and You and your uife sturted out as actors at tbe 'em to Dustin Hoffman (this month's Sphere) to locked in. !7e had people hoisting sametime. Doesit euerbother her that your ca- Yoda (in the upcoming Sfar'Wars prequel). food and water up to us for two and a half reerhas eclipsedbers? Not bad for a poor kid from Tennessee days. There were people outside waiting For a long time shewas a lot more successful who was raised by a single mom and de- to rush the door. than I was, and I dealt with that. So it's oK. voted grandparents after his father deserted Must hauebeen exciting. Doesshe get mad that yow work too much out them. His background obviously gave him a Oh, totally, totallyl There are a couple of of toun? kind of stability that is rare among his peers. pictures of me in the Ebony Pictorial His- Vell, she doesn't stop shopping. [Laughs] He has been married for 27 years to actress tory of Black America on the steps,giving That's how shedeak uith it? LaTanya Richardson (Losing lsaiah) and is a speech. It's funny. It looks like a scene Looks that way to me. Occasionallg she'll the father of ts-year-old Zoe. Not that his from SpikeLee's School Daze - me and my say, "Your next film has to be at home," life has been without trauma. His dalliance big Afro, sitting in a fatigue jacket. and I'11find one, luckily. But she was gone with drugs, which began as a hobby in col- Tbree decadeslater Spike Lee is reaming you all summer, doing U.S.Marshals, with \Wesley lege,devolved into full-scaleaddiction. But for saying the word "niggef' too many times in Tommy Lee ffones] and [Snipes]. '80s, after going through rehab in the late lackie Brown.' You're an only child, and you haueone cbild, 'Was Jackson was back at work, building a stellar fEuenlyl I am not going to zol say the word that deliberate? reputation as the movie world's most valu- nigger because some white man wrote it It was pretty much a conscious decision in able supporting player (the films might not and everybody'sgoing to be upset because the beginning. !7e both had career goals, have gotten great reviervs,but Jackson al- it's in the script 150 times. That's the way and when my wife decided she wanted to ways did). Vith his portfayal of a Bible- people like Ordell Robbie talk, and it has have a kid, it was a hard job for a while. thumping hit man named JulesinPulp Fic- nothing to do with Quentin Tarantino's You know, I spent all my life learning how tion, he hit the mother lode, earning an view of society or anything else. He was not to get peoplepregnant. [Grrhs] So it took Oscar nomination and fans for life. writing specifically for a voice, and that's a while. And the first few yearsof Zoe'slife, Jackie Brotun co-star Pam Grier suspects what that voice is. Quentin's not a racist. one of us always had to not work so that she knows the secret ofJackson's success. I'm not a racist. I'm going to be true to that somebodycould be at home with her. "LaTanya has been so supportive," says character and say what that character says, You didn't leaueher uith a nanny? Grier. "You can usually tell when [some- no matter what anybody out there thinks. Couldn't afford it. Ve lived in New York, one] has a good soul mate. They just soar Does it disappoint you uthen Lee moutbs off in Harlem, for years. \7e only moved here in their work." Iike that? [to L.A.] four years ago. As Jackson certainly has lately, earning No, I expect that. I hear a lot of people say, She's grouing up differently from you - accoladesfor his turns as killer Ordell Rob- "It makes me uncomfortable to hear the priuileged. bie rn Jackie Brown (for which he received word." And I say, "'Well, you wouldbern- Oh, yeah. There's very little that she'sde- a Golden Globe nomination) and as a phi- comfortable if you were in a room with Or- nied if she achievesin school. It's like, next landering yet sympathetic father in last dell Robbie. becausethat's who he is! He's year she'll be 16, so whether shegets a good fall's independent gem Eue'sBayou. "Sam supposed to make you uncomfortable." car or just a car hinges on how well she is a man's manr" says Kasi Lemmons, the And there's no way that Spike's going to tell does in school. And there was only one writer and director of Eue's Bayou. "But me he doesn't hear the word nigger atleast phone line in my neighborhood, so when I'm a woman, and I think he's a very sexy once a day in Brooklyn. Zoe got her own phone line, I didn't know man, very dignified and slightly intimidat- DeNiro playedyour sidekickin tackie Broun.' if that was a good thing or not. ing. But he's not like a cocky movie star. A What's he like? Is sbedating yet? confident stage actor - that's what he re- lwas amazed at how quiet and what a gen- She talks on the phone to guys, and she and minds me of." tle soul he is. Me and Quentin can be pretty her friends - this little mall pack of hers - However, here on the set, the emotion loud and boisterous and guy-5 and even they go to movies and probably meet guys to Jackson is showing for the camerasis des- when [De Niro] was around us, he just kind hang out with: the hang-out guys. Eventually peration. InThe Negotiator, which co- of sat quietly. Every now and then he'd say we'll have that talk about the hang-out guys. starsKevin Spacey,Jackson plays a hostage something, and we would kind of fstops, Will you be ouerprotectiueuben she starts negotiator who, after. being accused of a looks up, startledf, "D|d Bob say some- dating? crime he didn't commit, takes hostages thing?! Bo&t talking? What was that?!" Sure. You got to know where they come himself in an attempt to avoid going to jail. He'd make us laugh. from, who their folks are. All these guys are Few people realize the authenticityJackson And you just utorked uith Dustin Hofftnan in freaked out by me anyway. 'What brings to the role. 'Spbere.'Prettyheady. Euer get itutimidated? do you mean? In 7969,uhenyouutere a stud.entatMorebouse Actuallg the first day I did a huge dramatic fGrins) They think I'm Jules lfrom Pulp College,you and someother actiaists took the scenewith Dustin, I looked acrosscamera Fictionl- 6O US MARCH I998 Yourfather abandonedyou.