In a fascinating exchange of industry wisdom, Samuel L. Jackson shared a valuable piece of advice he received from Bruce Willis during the filming of the 1994 action blockbuster, Die Hard With a Vengeance. Willis advised Jackson, "Hopefully you’ll be able to find a character that, when you make bad movies and they don’t make any money, you can always go back to this character everybody loves." This insightful advice was recounted by Jackson in a Vanity Fair feature celebrating Willis' 70th birthday.
Willis illustrated his point by referencing other action stars and their iconic roles: "Arnold [Schwarzenegger]'s got Terminator. Sylvester [Stallone]'s got Rocky and Rambo. I’ve got John McClane." Initially, Jackson didn't fully grasp the significance of Willis' words until he landed the role of Nick Fury. "It didn’t occur to me until I got that Nick Fury role—and I had a nine-picture deal to be Nick Fury—that, 'Oh, I’m doing what Bruce said. I’ve got this character now,'" Jackson reflected.
Jackson first donned the eye patch of Nick Fury in a post-credits scene cameo in 2008’s Iron Man. He then fully embraced the role in 2010’s Iron Man 2. Since then, Jackson has reprised his role as Nick Fury in an impressive lineup that includes 10 films, three TV series, and two video games. His most recent portrayals can be seen in the 2023 film The Marvels, the series Secret Invasion, and a voice role in the Season 2 finale of the animated series Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
In a light-hearted moment, Jackson humorously reflected on the pace of the Marvel cinematic universe during a September 2024 interview with GQ. He recalled his initial reaction to being offered a nine-picture deal by Marvel's Kevin Feige: "I knew I had a nine-picture deal when Kevin [Feige] said, he was like, ‘We wanna offer you a nine-picture deal’ I was like, 'How long I gotta stay alive to make nine movies?'" Jackson was pleasantly surprised by the speed of production, noting, "It's not the quickest process in the world and people don't do it, so I didn't know they were gonna make nine movies in like two-and-a-half years. Which is kind of crazy. I was like 'Oh s—t, I'm using up my contracts!' but it worked out."
