interview - SAMUEL L. JACKSON

In Hot Pursuit

Samuel L. Jackson hunts down his old Star Wars foe Hayden Christensen in Jumper

Samuel L. Jackson appeared in four movies last year and will probably clock at least the same number in 2008. First up is Jumper, a sci-fi thriller by the eclectic and always interesting director Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Bourne Identity, Swingers), which pits Jackson against his old Star Wars co-star Hayden Christensen.

Then there’s the comic book adaptation Iron Man, the racial drama Lakeview Terrace, the murder mystery Cleaner…

Somehow, no matter how overexposed he may seem, we never grow tired of Jackson. Maybe it’s the marvelous array of inventive hairdos (in Jumper, it’s a shocking white cut). Maybe it’s because we can rely on him to cuss spectacularly most times out. Likely, we recognize that he’s a consummate actor whose own enjoyment of any movie he’s in — yes, even Snakes on a Plane — is infectious.

And if that wasn’t so, he’d probably scare all of us to death. Jackson was in L.A. when we spoke about his latest movie and his busy schedule.

You carry a painful-looking harpoon-type thing in Jumper. Safe to say you’re playing another mean badass?

“It’s a film about kids who can teleport. I play a government agent that’s sort of chasing them and killing them. He kind of hates kids who can do that because they leave these interesting rips in the atmosphere when they do it. That annoys him.”

You’re considered a first-class actor, but you’re drawn to a lot of genre stuff like this and 1408. How do you choose between these popcorn pics and more serious work, such as Resurrecting the Champ and your upcoming Lakeview Terrace?

“Sometimes I just want to be in the kind of movie that’s entertaining and fun and great for somebody’s Saturday afternoon escapism. Then there’s the great story that comes along that you want to tell with the great character in it, and that’s fun and fine to do too as an actor, to stretch yourself and give yourself a challenge. And that’s all that I’m really trying to do.

“It’s always something that moves me, or a story I want to tell, or something that I saw growing up that made me excited and all of a sudden I can do it! Y’know, I don’t have to go home and describe it for my friends. I’m actually in something where people teleport — and I get to chase ’em, yeah! I can’t do it, but I can chase ’em. And when I catch ’em, I get to beat ’em up!”

Jumper has a bigger budget than most of the movies you’ve been making. Do you try to do a certain number of those to subsidize your artier or more outlandish efforts like Black Snake Moan?

“There’s no plan for a big studio movie right here and an independent movie there, because movies are ready to go when they’re ready to go. Like, Jumper is a big studio sci-fi movie, the one I did before it, Resurrecting the Champ, was a small indie I made in Calgary. You just never know.”

You work so much, we’ve gotta ask: Do you ever turn anything down?

“I turn down movies all the time. I can’t do everything! But I do the things that are meant for me to do and the things that appeal to me in a specific kind of way. And y’know, there are actually movies that I want to do that I don’t do. That happens, can’t get everything. But I’m really happy with the things that I do, and that I’m able to make choices and continue to work, because I enjoy it.”

So what’s your criteria for the movies you do pick?

“I know what I want to see if I’m an audience member. So when I look at a script I always say, ‘Would I pay my money to see this?’ And then I say, ‘Would I pay money to see this with me in it?’ And if the answer is yes, then I do it.”

Next logical question: Are you ever not working?

“There are times when my agents and managers tell me that I need a break and they enforce it by not letting me go to work or making sure that my next job is, like, three months away. But I like to kind of know what I’m doing three pictures down the line. I guess I get bored. I golf every day when I’m not working, but I miss being part of the creative process.”

Unlike a lot of stars — and, more particularly, a lot of African-American stars — you don’t seem to be very cause conscious.

“I’ve always spoken my mind. I talk about my life and I talk about who I am honestly and openly — I guess everybody kinda knows that I was kinda drug-addicted way back when — and I don’t know if it’s gonna help people or not. A lot of times people say, you’ve overcome this and you’ve overcome that, you should go out and talk to kids. I just don’t feel like I need to do that. I can say what happened to me, how I got through it and I’m glad I’m on the other side of it, but y’know, that’s all.”

Anything you’ve overcome recently that you’d like to share?

“Quit smoking! I actually went to this doctor in New York who uses sodium pentothal. Judge Judy turned me onto him, she used him to quit. I have no idea what he did, I just know I don’t smoke. Which is kinda cool.”

Bob Strauss is an L.A.-based writer.

The crew for Jumper did have some serious ground rules for shooting inside the 1st-century structure. They had to keep all equipment off the ground. Filming was limited to three days, and could only be done using natural light. And they could only shoot between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m., and then between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. to avoid disturbing the tourists.

The rest of Jumper was filmed in a much more familiar environment for Christensen, Southern Ontario — Toronto and Peterborough to be precise.

“It was a blast,” says Christensen. “Most of the movie was filmed in Toronto, where I’m from, so I was around the corner from my friends and family.”

—Ken Linton