Samuel L. Jackson has always stuck his neck out for his close collaborator Quentin Tarantino, but in a new interview with Esquire, he said that there was one time he warned the director-actor against using the n-word in one of his films.
When asked for his take on the controversy surrounding Quentin Tarantino's use of the n-word in his movies, he responded, "It's some bullshit." Pressed for more, he continued, "When we did Pulp, I warned Quentin about the whole 'n***er storage.' I was like, 'Don't say n***er storage.' He’s like, 'No, I’m going to say it like that.' And we tried to soften it by making his wife black, because that wasn’t originally written."
Throughout his career, Jackson has appeared in six of Tarantino's films. "But you can’t just tell a writer he can’t talk, write the words, put the words in the mouths of the people from their ethnicities, the way that they use their words," he added. "You cannot do that, because then it becomes an untruth; it’s not honest. It’s just not honest. And half the time, too, there are other ways. And I generally add like at least five n***as to what Quentin has already written, just because I’m talking."
Jackson has defended Tarantino's voice of the word in the past, criticizing people who sit and count how many times the n-word appeared in Django Unchained. The 70-year-old actor doesn't have a confirmed role in the director's latest project, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but it's likely he could still appear in a cameo or as an uncredited narrator like he did with with Inglorious Basterds.
During the extensive chat, he also broke down why he's been so vocal about Donald Trump since he took office. "I think we feel the same way that all of the motherfuckers that hated Obama felt for eight years," he explained. "They put fucking pictures up on the Internet of Michelle sitting with her legs crossed with a dick hanging down. We feel the same way that they feel or they felt about Obama being the man, even though he wasn’t fucking ruining their lives; he was trying to help their lives."
Back in 2016, Jackson said he played gold with Trump numerous times and met him on some other occasions, too. He suggested that Trump cheats at golf, which prompted him to claim he had never met Samuel L. Jackson and never played golf with him. "This motherfucker is like ruining the planet and all kinds of other crazy shit," Jackson told Esquire. "And the people think that’s okay. It’s not fucking okay. And if you’re not saying anything, then you’re complicit."
As for whether he cares if he antagonizing his fans with his outspoken criticism of Trump, he said, "If you never went to another movie I did in my life, I’m not going to lose any money. I already cashed that check. Fuck you. Burn up my videotapes. I don’t give a fuck. 'You’re an actor. Stick to acting.' 'No, motherfucker. I’m a human being that feels a certain way.'"
