The best advice that was given to me was that I had to be 10 times smarter, braver and more polite to be equal. So I did.
— Samuel L. Jackson
I'm not as angry as I used to be. But I can get in touch with that anger pretty quickly if I feel my space is being invaded or somebody is not treating me with the respect that I think I want.
All movies aren't fun; some are hard work. You try to do something and convey a set of emotions that have to do with some real life kind of stuff.
I understood, through rehab, things about creating characters. I understood that creating whole people means knowing where we come from, how we can make a mistake and how we overcome things to make ourselves stronger.
I kind of realize that I have a tendency to choose the kind of films I watched when I was a kid and would go home and pretend with my friends that we were in those movies after we saw them.
People know about the Klan and the overt racism, but the killing of one's soul little by little, day after day, is a lot worse than someone coming in your house and lynching you.
I'm a good son, a good father, a good husband - I've been married to the same woman for 30 years. I'm a good friend. I finished college, I have my education, I donate money anonymously. So when people criticize the kind of characters that I play on screen, I go, 'You know, that's part of history.'
I walk the streets, take the train, it's real simple. Some actors create their own mythology: 'Oh, I'm so famous I can't go places, because I created this mythology that I'm so famous I can't go places.'
I get paid all day, every day, which is almost too much for a sensitive artist.
I guess the worst day I have had was when I had to stand up in rehab in front of my wife and daughter and say 'Hi, my name is Sam and I am an addict.'
I actually think I have an audience member's sensibility about going to the movies.
I tend to play characters that I can infuse with certain kinds of humour. Even the baddest guy can be funny in his own particular way. I want the audience to engage with the character on some deeper level so that they leave the cinema still thinking about him.
People go to movies on Saturday to get away from the war in Iraq and taxes and election news and pedophiles online and just go and have some fun. I like doing movies that are fun.
We need to change America's image round the world. America has lost some lustre in terms of how folks aspire to be like us.
I just always knew that I lived in two worlds. There was the world of my house and community, but to make my way in that white world I had to modify the way I spoke and acted. I had to sometimes not make direct eye contact.
We've come a long way in our thinking, but also in our moral decay. I can't imagine Dr. King watching the 'Real Housewives' or 'Jersey Shore.'
I hope Obama gets scary in the next four years, 'cuz he ain't gotta worry about getting re-elected.
I've never been to jail. I've never been arrested. I've never been locked up.
I did 'Formula 51' because I got to run around Liverpool in a kilt, with golf clubs.
I never had one beer. If I bought a six-pack of beer, I kept drinking till all six beers were gone. You have to have that kind of understanding about yourself. I haven't had a drink now in 12 years.
If you have an opportunity to use your voice you should use it.
I've been fortunate to be in films that are classic, that are going to be around.
When I'm not working, I like to play golf.
I love comic books and I love anime.
Because of where I come from, I never thought I'd see in my life a black candidate running for President.
The only thing I've kind of missed is finding a really good western that I want to do, because I watched westerns a lot.
It wasn't until I let go of the idea of the brass ring that it showed up, and fortunately for me, it coincided with getting clean.
I voted for Barack because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people - because they look like them... That's American politics, pure and simple.
My dad was an absentee dad, so it was always important to me that I was part of my daughter's life, and she deserved two parents, which is part of the rationale behind us staying married for 30 years.
I grew up watching those blaxploitation movies. Ron O'Neal, Richard Roundtree, Jim Brown, Pam Grier. For the first time, I saw 'The Negro' get one over on 'The Man.'
I look at myself as an audience member. I still love movies, and I still go and sit in the back of the big dark room with everybody else, and I want the same thrill.
Long Kiss Goodnight has a huge cult following. They could make another version of that movie right now and make a lot of money.
Not everybody goes to movies to get their life changed.
