The next time you are watching a Samuel L. Jackson film and you see someone in the theater who looks like the actor, it just might be the one and only. Jackson tells Steve Kroft that he’s not one of those actors who claims he can’t watch his own films. He likes watching himself on the big screen. So do a lot of people: Jackson is currently the highest grossing actor in Hollywood history. The movie star talks to Kroft for a 60 Minutes profile to be broadcast Sunday, March 24 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
Jackson thinks it’s a tad disingenuous to say you can’t watch yourself in films. “I always think that, ‘Oh, I can’t stand to watch myself’ is like some bulls—,” he tells Kroft. “And if you can’t watch it why should people pay $13.50 to watch you do it?”
For the former stage actor, watching his film performances is a privilege. “When I was doing theater in New York, I always wanted to see the play I was in with me in it,” he says with a grin. “Yeah, it is very difficult. So this is perfect for me, I get to watch my performances.”
A record number of people have watched Jackson in over 100 movies, making him the highest grossing Hollywood film actor. The fact that the prolific movie star has never won an Oscar doesn’t seem to bother him in the least. “Like I tell people… winning or losing an Academy Award doesn’t do a lot toward moving the comma on your check,” he says. What moves the comma? “Butts in seats. Selling tickets.”
Kroft also speaks to Jackson’s wife of 38 years, the actor LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and accompanies Jackson to his childhood neighborhood in Chattanooga, Tenn.
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