Samuel L. Jackson Says That Black Stars Only Win Oscars For One Reason
Samuel L. Jackson is looking back on his only Oscar nomination and has come to the realization on why Black stars have actually scored a win at the award ceremony.
Speaking with the U.K.’s The Sunday Times the 73-year-old recalled his iconic performance as Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino’s classic 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
“I should have won,” he said, adding that he also thinks that he should have been nominated for his role in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever as well and was surprised he was outshined by cast members from the 1991 Barry Levinson film, Bugsy.
“My wife and I went to see Bugsy,” he explained. “D**n! They got nominated and I didn’t? I guess [B]lack folk usually win for doing despicable sh*t on screen. Like Denzel [Washington] for being a horrible cop in Training Day.”
The Marvel actor continued: “All the great stuff he did in uplifting roles like Malcolm X? No — we’ll give it to this motherf***er. So maybe I should have won one. But Oscars don’t move the comma on your check — it’s about getting asses in seats and I’ve done a good job of doing that.”
Currently, Washington, 67, is the most-nominated Black actor in Oscar history. For this year's show he is nominated for Best Actor for The Tragedy of Macbeth. He has been nominated a total of 10 times and snagged two wins Training Day (2001) and Glory (1989).
While Jackson has yet to win an Academy Award, the Black Hollywood veteran is being awarded an Honorary Oscar at the 2022 Governors Awards on March 25, Deadline reports.
The producer and prolific actor has appeared in over 100 films including Shaft, A Time To Kill, Jackie Brown, Coach Carter and Django Unchained.
Hosted by Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer, the 94th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 27 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
