EW Role Call: Samuel L. Jackson
Prolific actor has made a living off interesting death scenes
By Gary Susman
Entertainment Weekly
(Entertainment Weekly) -- For years, Samuel L. Jackson has been begging George Lucas to kill him.
He knew the plot of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" would require the death of Jedi master Mace Windu, the character he has played in all three "Star Wars" prequels. So Jackson wanted to make sure that his character went out in a blaze of glory.
On the eve of the film's Australian shoot in 2003, he told MTV News: ''I'm basically going down there hoping that I'm going to have this really awesome lightsaber battle with somebody that takes me out in the proper way. You know, the way a Jedi of my status deserves to be taken out.''
Jackson reportedly got his wish, though moviegoers won't know for sure until "Sith" opens on May 19. But a glorious death scene in "Sith" would be just another day at the office for the 56-year-old Jackson, for whom dying on screen has become a cottage industry.
It began with "Goodfellas" (1990), in which he plays a low-level hood who's tying his shoes when Joe Pesci's character unexpectedly whacks him. His "Jungle Fever" (1991) performance as a homeless crackhead, capped by a shocking death at the hands of his character's preacher father (Ossie Davis), put him on the map in Hollywood.
Since then, the prolific Jackson (he's been in 70 films over the past 14 years) has been shot, stabbed, blown up, devoured by sharks and more. In the following gallery
, we review our favorite of Jackson's final exits -- though we may have to revise the list after seeing Jackson's 2006 project: a thriller about an airplane whose passengers include an assassin and a crateload of venomous snakes.
Click here to see the gallery.
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