As an actor who has worked on both Quentin Tarantino and Marvel films, Samuel L. Jackson may actually be among the most well-suited to weigh in on the Pulp Fiction director's recent comments on MCU actors not being "movie stars."
Branching off of the great cinema debate sparked by Martin Scorsese back in 2019, Jackson has offered his own take on Tarantino's comments about the "Marvel-ization of Hollywood" and the director's perception that moviegoers flock to cinemas to see superhero characters, rather than the actors who play them.
"It takes an actor to be those particular characters, and the sign of movie stardom has always been, what, asses in seats? What are we talking about?" Jackson said on The View [via Entertainment Weekly]. "That's not a big controversy for me to know that apparently these actors are movie stars. Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther. You can't refute that, and he's a movie star."
Jackson, who portrays Nick Fury in the MCU, went on to say that he'd rather play that character than pursue "statue-chasing movies" in hopes of an Oscar.
The actor joins recent enlistee Simu Liu amongst Team Marvel's ranks, which had previously seen support from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Danai Gurira, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Downey Jr. and James Gunn.
Meanwhile, Tarantino and Scorsese, of course, belong among its many detractors, including Denis Villeneuve, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho (sort of), Benedict Cumberbatch and Leonardo DiCaprio (and his protégé Timothee Chalamet).
The debate rages on!
Branching off of the great cinema debate sparked by Martin Scorsese back in 2019, Jackson has offered his own take on Tarantino's comments about the "Marvel-ization of Hollywood" and the director's perception that moviegoers flock to cinemas to see superhero characters, rather than the actors who play them.
"It takes an actor to be those particular characters, and the sign of movie stardom has always been, what, asses in seats? What are we talking about?" Jackson said on The View [via Entertainment Weekly]. "That's not a big controversy for me to know that apparently these actors are movie stars. Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther. You can't refute that, and he's a movie star."
Jackson, who portrays Nick Fury in the MCU, went on to say that he'd rather play that character than pursue "statue-chasing movies" in hopes of an Oscar.
The actor joins recent enlistee Simu Liu amongst Team Marvel's ranks, which had previously seen support from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Danai Gurira, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Downey Jr. and James Gunn.
Meanwhile, Tarantino and Scorsese, of course, belong among its many detractors, including Denis Villeneuve, Francis Ford Coppola, Bong Joon-ho (sort of), Benedict Cumberbatch and Leonardo DiCaprio (and his protégé Timothee Chalamet).
The debate rages on!
