Samuel L. Jackson has two things that he always spots as a red flag in any movie contract, and he’s keen to encourage other younger actors to do exactly the same as him. Here's the trailer for his new show, fresh on Disney+ this week.
When Samuel L. Jackson speaks about the workings of the movie business, it’s probably worth listening, as the guy has been around the block a good few times.
He’s starred in everything from critically-acclaimed indie films, to huge blockbuster franchises like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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The man is always in demand, and isn’t known for sitting around when he could be working.
After all, he came to his film fame quite late, so maybe he sees it as making up for lost time?
The Pulp Fiction star is set to appear in yet another Marvel project, this time a TV series in the Marvel mould.
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Secret Invasion follows Jackson’s Nick Fury character, as well as his superhero friends, and it’s out on Disney+ as of this week.
But, with the prestige of appearing in such a big franchise comes some potential pitfalls and things to watch out for, and it’s lucky that Jackson is wise to these things and looks after his own best interests.
That means – in this unprecedented technological age – looking after your image rights and your personal brand in ways that we couldn’t have imagined even a short few years ago.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Samuel said: “Ever since I’ve been in the Marvel Universe, every time you change costumes in a Marvel movie, they scan you.
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“Ever since I did Captain Marvel, and they did the Lola project where they de-aged me and everything else, it’s like, ‘Well, I guess they can do this anytime they want to do it if they really want to!’
“It could be something to worry about.”
It sure could – if they can scan you, what else could they do at a later date with that scanned data?
Jackson continued: “Future actors should do what I always do when I get a contract and it has the words ‘in perpetuity’ and ‘known and unknown’ on it: I cross that s*** out.
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“It’s my way of saying, ‘No, I do not approve of this'.”
It’s a clever way of meaning that you can’t be digitally misrepresented, but also a great way of making sure that you retain the rights to your own work, as well as your own likeness.
Samuel L has been in the game long enough to have picked up a few things that others might not have.
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So, if you’re in the game – or any game where this might be a potential issue down the line – it’s a valuable piece of advice, and one that you should think about given the way things are going.
As for Secret Invasion, you can watch that on Disney+ right now.
Topics: US News, Celebrity, Film and TV, Samuel L Jackson, Marvel, Disney
Tom Wood