One of the longest-lived faces in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Samuel L Jackson, but he’s also one of Quentin Tarantino’s regulars. The two distinctions could put an actor who owes himself to both sides of the coin in trouble. Two sides that in recent months have been confronted, especially by the comments of the author of pulp fiction. However, Jackson knows his position and is not afraid to speak up even if it means going against his dear friend and filmmaker.
It all started when Quentin Tarantino claimed that Marvel actors are hardly stars. He argues that what stands out from his performances is precisely the legacy of the fictional characters we see on screen. But not exactly the star behind. He expressed it this way:
“Part of the Marvelization of Hollywood is…you have all these actors who have become famous playing those characters. But they’re not movie stars, right? Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I’m not the first person to mention it. I think it’s been said a million times. But it’s like… you know, it’s the characters in the franchise that become the stars.”
After his comments many people exploded against the director. Even some actors from the MCU. But perhaps no comment is more controversial than that of Samuel L Jackson, who has worked with Tarantino on more than one occasion, considering both of them friends. So Jackson addressed the director’s comments and concluded that they are definitely wrong:
“It takes an actor to be those particular characters, and the sign of movie stardom has always been, what, butts in the seats? What are we talking about?” Jackson said, referring to the letters with the names of the cast that are usually placed on the chairs on film sets.
“It’s not a huge controversy for me to know that apparently these actors are movie stars,” the actor continued. Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther. You can’t refute that, and he’s a movie star.”
Tarantino’s suggestion that Marvel characters are attractive in themselves, but not because of the help of their cast, could be contradicted in many ways. There are examples of great actors who are now considered Hollywood stars like Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Holland, and even Brie Larson.
Although it’s fair to say that all of them achieved deeper stardom, after playing characters from the MCU. In any case, actors like Simu Liu condemn Tarantino’s comments and even affirm that his cinema is hegemonic when it comes to how many different stars there can be on the screen.
“If the only guardians of movie stardom were Tarantino and Scorsese, [yo] I would never have had the opportunity to star in a movie of more than 400 million dollars, “he said via social networks.
Luis Angel H. Mora My most stable relationship is with the movies, parties and music. I love writing about cinema, meeting new people and sharing ideas. Idealistic in every way, I guess that’s my Ascendant Aquarian trait.
