According to him, popular films are too often ignored by the Academy and the 73-year-old actor would like the Oscar of the fans, awarded this year, to be given to Spider-Man.
He’ll have an Oscar to put on his mantel in a few days. Samuel L. Jackson will receive an honorary Oscar on March 25 at the Governors Awards 2022, two days before the big Hollywood ceremony. And inevitably, the 73-year-old star cannot be satisfied with it!
In interview given to the Times, he explains that he should have won an Oscar by now. In particular in 1995, when he was named best actor in a supporting role for Pulp Fiction and that he was defeated by Martin Landau (in Ed Wood). “I should have won that one”, valued Samuel L. Jacksona posteriori, before also citing its role in Jungle Feverby Spike Lee, for which he hadn’t even been named…
Samuel L. Jackson loses his memory in The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray [bande-annonce]
Because at the time (in 1992), Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley had taken two tickets for the statuette, after their performances in Bugsy. Inconceivable for Samuel L. Jackson : “My wife and I went to see Bugsy. Slim! They were named for that and not me? I guess black people usually win for doing despicable things on screen. Like Denzel [Washington] as a horrible cop in Training Day. All the great things he’s done in uplifting roles like Malcolm X? No ? We’ll give it to him when he plays that motherfucker. So maybe I should have won one. But the Oscars don’t move the decimal on your check. It’s how many asses you get to move around theaters that makes your mark and I’ve done a good job of that.”
Going further in his reflection, Samuel L. Jackson regrets that the Oscars do not shed enough light on the popular big hits. Suddenly, it fully validates the Oscar of the public vote, in progress on social networks. “There should be an Oscar for the most popular film. Because that’s what cinema is all about!” And according to the Marvel star, the Academy should reward Spider-Man: No Way Homefor grossing $1.8 billion: “He did what movies know how to do: bring people together in a big dark room..”
“All films are valid“, concludes Jackson. “Some go to the movies to get emotional dearly. Some love superheroes. There are people who have had successful careers but no one can recite a single line from a single one of their roles. I am the guy who says “shit” and we put on T-shirts!”