‘Ptolemy Grey’s Samuel L. Jackson On The Array Of Movies That Sparked His Career – The Film That Lit My Fuse

The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists.

Every installment asks the same five questions. Today’s subject is Samuel L. Jackson, who has proven his place among the great actors of his generation with his turn in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, the Apple TV+ adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel about a man whose memory is temporarily restored as he attempts to put his life in order.

Happiest when he is working, Jackson began on the stage and his long list of film credits range from Goodfellas to Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Django Unchained, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Unbreakable, A Time to Kill, Jungle Fever, the Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Marvel Cinematic universes, and many others. His prodigious output and penchant for gracing blockbusters puts him at or near the top of the highest-grossing actors of all time.

Much the way that Jackson has shown an exceptional range that makes him as strong in comedies as dramas and science fiction, there wasn’t a single film that sparked Jackson’s fuse, but rather a litany of experiences. Here he explains how he got his mojo.