Samuel L. Jackson Lists His Top 5 Samuel L. Jackson Movies: One Tarantino Makes the Cut

Zack Sharf
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Samuel L. Jackson has well over 150 acting credits to his name, from major franchises such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and “Star Wars” to family blockbusters such as “The Incredibles” and a handful of Quentin Tarantino movies. Many of Jackson’s most famous roles have come courtesy of Tarantino, including “Pulp Fiction,” “Django Unchained,” “Jackie Brown,” and “The Hateful Eight.” But only one Tarantino movie appears on Jackson’s personal list of five favorite Samuel L. Jackson movies.

During a visit this week to Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” Jackson provided the five Samuel L. Jackson movies he loves most: Renny Harlin’s “The Long Kiss Goodnight” (1996), Joel Schumacher’s “A Time To Kill” (1996), Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” (1997), François Girard’s “The Red Violin” (1998), and Kevin Reynolds’ “One Eight Seven” (1997). Interestingly enough, all of Jackson’s favorite Jackson movies were released in the 1990s. Some might expect “Pulp Fiction” to be a favorite, but it’s actually “Jackie Brown” that holds the closest spot to Jackson’s heart in terms of Tarantino movies.

More from IndieWire

“Jackie Brown” might be Jackson’s favorite Tarantino movie, but it’s his character from “Django Unchained” that ranks as his favorite role. The actor told Esquire in 2019 that Stephen, a loyal house slave to the film’s villainous plantation owner Calvin J. Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), is his favorite character of all time.

“I love fucking Stephen,” Jackson said at the time. “I mean, the dude ran that fucking plantation. Candyland was his fucking plantation. Leo’s out fighting n–gers and doing whatever, running the strip club. Dude’s writing the bills. [Stephen is] making sure the crops get planted. He’s making sure the slaves get sold. He runs that place…He ain’t really got no kids of his own because he ain’t have time to do that. But Leo was basically his kid. And Candyland is his world. He knows outside Candyland, he’s just another [slave] on the plantation.”

Now that we know Jackson’s favorite Jackson movies, does the actor often re-watch his own movies? That’s a question Colbert asked this week, to which Jackson responded, “Some actors lie to you about that. They watch their movies. It’s a ‘watch me’ business… If I’m channel surfing and I haven’t found anything I want to watch, or not specifically looking for something, and I pass something I’m in, I stop and watch it.”

Watch Jackson’s full appearance on “The Late Show” in the video below.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.