The fact that Samuel L. Jackson has never won an Oscar is a travesty. Many feel he was robbed when he lost out to Ed Wood's Martin Landau for his work in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, but the legendary actor really isn't sweating it. Earlier this year, The Avengers star even pointed out that winning an Academy Award "doesn’t change your career trajectory that much."
Jackson has even hit out at the Academy for overlooking superhero movies, and clearly isn't afraid of making his feelings known at this stage of his incredible career.
Talking to the Los Angeles Times, Jackson explained why he's much less interested in chasing potentially Oscar-winning roles than having fun bringing characters to life from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars franchises. "As jaded as I wanted to be about it, thinking, 'Well, I should have won an Oscar for this or should have won for that and it didn't happen,' once I got over it many years ago, it wasn't a big deal for me."
"I always have fun going to the Oscars," he continued. "I always look forward to getting a gift basket for being a presenter. [Laughs] I give stuff to my relatives; my daughter and my wife would take stuff out. It's cool. But otherwise, I was past it."
"My yardstick of success is my happiness: Am I satisfied with what I'm doing? I'm not doing statue-chasing movies. You know, 'If you do this movie, you'll win an Oscar.' No, thanks. I'd rather be Nick Fury," Jackson admitted, showing love for his blockbuster roles. "Or having fun being Mace Windu with a lightsaber in my hand."
While it's a tremendous shame that Jackson has so often been overlooked at the Oscars, it's the characters that he's made iconic on screen that he'll ultimately be remembered for. An Academy Award would have been well-deserved and a nice addition to his many accolades, but to say the actor needed one is ridiculous.
Next year, we'll see Jackson play Nick Fury in both Secret Invasion and The Marvels. The former will put the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. Director front and centre as he embarks on a mission to save the world from shape-shifting Skrulls. As for the Captain Marvel sequel, Fury is bound to be a pivotal part of Carol Danvers' highly anticipated team-up with Monica Rambeau and Ms. Marvel.
As for Star Wars, like Jackson, we remain optimistic that he'll eventually return as Mace Windu.