Samuel L. Jackson has been around the block a few times. In fact, his very first film credit was all the way back in 1973. Nearly half a century later, and he's racked up over 120 movies to his name, and is one of the most recognisable stars and respected actors on the planet.
He's still looking incredible to this day - nearly a month after his 70th birthday. Yep, you read that right - he doesn't look a day over fifty, but he's spent seven decades on this Earth, and has plenty to show for it.
Jackson was recently named the most bankable star in Hollywood by Box Office Mojo, has also been referred to as "the most influential actor of all time" by a genuine scientific study for Applied Network Science, and, as I discovered the other day, he's my personal most watched actor of the year.
In all these categories, it doesn't hurt that the Marvel movies he's starred in are some of the most successful blockbusters around - or that he's been averaging five films a year for the past 30 years.
Earlier this month the actor was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he talked about turning 70 in December, the birthday celebrations, quitting smoking, his marriage of 38 years, and his friendship with Judge Judy of all people.
Then Fallon asked Jackson to do something I'm surprised no other talk show host has before: name his top five favourite performances. "Five? That's all?" he asks, before jumping right into the best characters he's played on screen.
Nick Fury (Marvel movies)This character hasn't been a lead in any film yet, but it's definitely the one that Jackson has played the most, with the actor appearing in post-credit cameos for three Marvel movies, full appearances in five more of them, and is set to appear in both Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home this year alone (and let's face it, probably Avengers: Endgame too).
Ordell Robbie (Jackie Brown)The actor couldn't decide how to narrow his fourth choice down, so brought three with him, including his appearance in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film.
Stephen (Django Unchained)"Because they're all Quentin characters, they're all cool characters that have their own thing going for them and I'd hate to pull them apart."
Apparently people come up to him all the time asking him the "do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?" line from the movie to him all the time, and he often goes with it.
"Come on, he's a Jedi, you can't beat that."
Mitch Henessey (The Long Kiss Goodnight)His favourite is his detective from the 1996 crime film. Apparently, they tested a scene where he died in the film, but their test audiences weren't having any of it.
In all honesty, I'm surprised he picked his top choices so quick - as he's got such an extended filmography there are dozens of great examples to choose from. Here's hoping he brings us plenty more in the future!
