In Dubai, Samuel L. Jackson Talks About Drug Addiction And Muslim Americans
(9 Dec 2016) IN DUBAI, SAMUEL L. JACKSON TALKS ABOUT DRUG ADDICTION AND MUSLIM AMERICANS
Samuel L. Jackson opened up about film, life and his former drug addiction, Friday (9 DEC. 2016), as he chatted before a small audience in the United Arab Emirates.
The Academy Award winner, who has appeared in more than 100 movies, was speaking at the Dubai International Film Festival, where he also received an award for his achievements in film.
Jackson kept the crowd laughing as he spoke about his long movie career.
“I had auditioned for ‘Reservoir Dogs’ for Quentin (Tarantino), and the day I was supposed to audition I was supposed to read with Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, and somebody else, and I got there and there was some guy I had never seen before and this guy Lawrence Bender who’s the producer, and I had to read, I had to audition with them, and they were horrible,” he said, claiming he thought they had ruined his audition.
As it transpired, that was his first meeting with the director who would cast him in seven other movies, starting with “Pulp Fiction.”
“I’m not going to get this job because those guys suck, and it turned out it was Quentin and Lawrence,” he laughs.
Speaking openly about his former drug addiction, the A-lister recalled checking himself into a rehabilitation center. He left shortly before filming Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever.”
“While I was in rehab, Spike (Lee) called me and said, you know, he was doing this movie and I was going to play this drug addict in the movie, a crackhead, and I was like well, s**t I’ve already done the research, I guess I know what is,” he quipped, prompting more laughter from the audience.
“I started ‘Jungle Fever,’ I was two weeks out of rehab, so I really didn’t need makeup and I was still detoxing, so the person that you see on screen was who I was.”
The conversation took a serious turn as the star gave his thoughts on gun violence in the U.S., and about the treatment of Muslim Americans in his home country.
“Muslim Americans are getting arrested like black kids get arrested now, because like somebody said I said last year, you know, that Muslim Americans are the new black people in the U.S.,” he said, “you know they’re treated like we are, we have been in the past, or they are as suspect as we are for the dominant culture because they don’t understand them or they perceive them as a threat immediately, you know before even saying hello, it’s kind of like, ‘Oh s**t it’s one of them.'”
Members of the audience had the opportunity to ask Jackson questions at the end of the event.
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