Samuel L. Jackson says he hasn’t settled on a podium strategy for the March 25 Governors Awards, where he is to receive an honorary Oscar.
“They keep saying something about a speech but I don’t know what I want to stand there and read something off a teleprompter or just stand there, feeling however I feel in that moment, and say what I need to say,” the actor told THR March 7 at the Westwood premiere of his new Apple TV+ limited series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey which he stars in and executive produced.
Prepared remarks aside, Jackson explains that there’s not really much for him to say, “other than I’ve done a lot of movies. I wanted to be an entertainer. I don’t even know if I wanted to be a movie star, but I happened to be in a lot of movies that a lot of people like. And hopefully, I have represented the Hollywood standard of being an entertainer, getting people to come to the theaters, sell some tickets, sell some popcorn and make people happy.”
Jackson, who will share the podium with fellow honorary honorees Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, previously received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his work in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 cult classic Pulp Fiction. The award went to Martin Landau for Ed Wood. In a recent interview, Jackson quipped that “maybe I should have won one” by now, adding that “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.”
Walter Mosley, who wrote the book on which Jackson’s new series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is based, told THR at the premiere that Jackson should be “getting an Oscar for something else,” aside from the honorary tribute. But he’s hopeful Jackson will be recognized when the Emmy nominations roll around. “That will be OK,” he says. “In my heart, he has already won.”
A version of this story first appeared in the March 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Source: Hollywood
