Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Fox
Topics: Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hollywood, Celebrity
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hollywood, Celebrity
Bruce Willis gave some stellar career advice to Samuel L. Jackson back in the day.
The two Hollywood legends starred in Die Hard with a Vengeance, which they filmed together in New York in 1994.
The movie marked the third in the Die Hard franchise, with Willis reprising his role of John McClane for it.
Meanwhile, Jackson joined the well-loved film as Zeus Carver, who helps McClane on his mission.
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It was while they were filming that Willis shared some brilliant advice with his co-star with his Die Hard success in mind.
Speaking to Vanity Fair to mark Willis' 70th birthday — which he celebrated on March 19 — Jackson revealed what the acting veteran said to him all those years ago.
“He told me, ‘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,” the Pulp Fiction favorite recalled.
“He said, ‘Arnold’s got Terminator. Sylvester’s got Rocky, Rambo. I’ve got John McClane.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, okay.’ And 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 first donned Nick Fury's infamous eyepatch for 2008's Iron Man.
He's since become a staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the movies he's starred in reportedly making a whopping $12.8 billion, CNBC reports.
And Jackson seems to love playing the character and was happy portraying Fury in the Marvel movies, despite there being a limited chance of him winning any awards.
"I was never going to let the Oscars be a measure of my success or failure as an actor," he told the Los Angeles Times in 2022. Instead, he goes off 'happiness'.
Jackson continued: "I’m not doing statue-chasing movies. 'If you do this movie, you’ll win an Oscar.’ No, thanks. I’d rather be Nick Fury. Or having fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand."
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While Jackson hasn't won an award for playing Fury (despite his fantastic portrayal of the well-loved MCU character), it wasn't until the release of Black Panther than Marvel films started winning the more prestigious awards.
The 2018 film won three Oscars, and in 2023 its sequel, Wakanda Forever, saw Angela Bassett win a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
Ruth Carter also won Best Costume Design for Wakanda Forever.