Samuel L. Jackson once starred in the hit action thriller Snakes on a Plane. But at the time, some believed doing the movie would do his career more harm than good.
Why Samuel L. Jackson did ‘Snakes on a Plane’
Snakes on a Plane was a 2006 feature film that saw Jackson playing FBI agent Neville Flynn. Neville would find himself on board of a plane with several passengers that would soon be crawling with deadly snakes. The title of the film was what initially piqued Jackson’s interest in the movie.
“Snakes on a Plane. I thought, ‘Oh, s***, I need to be in that,” Jackson once told Entertainment Weekly.
What further attracted Jackson to the project was that someone who he personally trusted was originally directing the film.
“I saw that my friend Ronnie Yu was directing it, so I immediately emailed him and said: ‘Are you really directing a movie called Snakes on a Plane?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah. Why?’ And I said, ‘Because I want to be in it,’” Jackson remembered. “He said ‘For real?!’”
Even the studio behind the project was surprised that Jackson wanted to be a part of Snakes on a Plane.
“He told New Line, and New Line was like, ‘Are you sure?’ One thing turned to another, and as it happened, Ronnie ended up not doing the picture,” Jackson recalled. “They said, ‘You still want to do it?’ I said. ‘It’s still called Snakes on a Plane, right?’”
Samuel L. Jackson felt sorry for critics who questioned his integrity for doing the movie
Some were surprised and even disappointed that Jackson chose to do a feature like Snakes on a Plane. Jackson already heard quite a bit of criticism towards his decision, which he felt was unwarranted.
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“I feel sorry for all those people who questioned my integrity for doing something like this,” Jackson once said in an interview with Black Film.
Jackson took issue with critics saying he might have been too big of an actor for a Snakes on a Plane movie. He didn’t think his status as a film star should have any influence on the types of films he wanted to do.
“I’ve read that stuff and its fine, people are entitled to their opinions but it’s a sad state of affairs when you’re going to tell me that an actor of my status shouldn’t do something like that. I’m an actor. I do the kind of films I want to do and enjoyed going to the movies and watching movies like that when I was a kid,” he said.
Samuel L. Jackson’s managers didn’t want him doing ‘Snakes on a Plane’
It wasn’t just critics who worried about Jackson doing Snakes on a Plane. Jackson’s own associates didn’t have confidence in the horror movie. But the Pulp Fiction star wouldn’t let anyone discourage him from the feature.
“My agents were like, ‘Did you REALLY tell Ronnie Yu you wanted to make a movie called Snakes on a Plane?’ [But] my agents and managers have finally figured out that I’m pretty much going to do what I want to do,” he added.
Jackson asserted that his main motivation behind doing the feature was just to have a good time. It was a concept that his agents and managers had trouble getting behind.
“Every now and then, I want to do a movie that’s just — it doesn’t mean the end of the world. It’s not stretching my acting abilities or anything else. I’m doing movies for other people to go see and have some fun because I want to go see them and have some fun. It’s just that simple,” he said.
