"Samuel L. Jackson has appeared in every movie ever made, including all those to be made in the future. If you're working on a funny little home movie with your buddies, Samuel L. Jackson will show up at some point onscreen. If you accidentally leave your camcorder on, he'll end up in front of it. And in homes all over the world, young couples are staring in confusion at their nannycam as Samuel L. Jackson shows up to berate the babysitter."

— Jerusalem, writer of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Grove Street 4 Life

DESCRIBE WHAT SAMUEL L. JACKSON LOOKS LIKE!

Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948 in Washington, D.C.) is one of the top leading men and supporting actors in Hollywood today. If you see a badass Scary Black Man with NO INDOOR VOICE in one of your favorite films, chances are good that this guy's playing him (and will likely give you a few lines to remember for ages).

Not to be confused with Laurence Fishburne. According to both actors' IMDB entries, this happens frequently, in both directions. Jackson himself acknowledges that he and Fishburne were even mistaken while standing next to each other, but that also "I've been every famous black guy", including Morgan Freeman.

And, for God's sake, don't try to portmanteau his first name and middle initial together, creating "Samuelle Jackson." It never ends well. Though "Mr. Jackson" is entirely appropriate.

For those who still believe that being a nerd and being a badass are two unrelated concepts, he's a big fan of anime, videogames, manga and comic books. He is known to collect action figures that depict characters he has portrayed, including Jules Winnfield, John Shaft II, Mace Windu and Frozone. Oh, and Nick Fury too. The latter's presence in the Avengers films and other MCU films made him the highest grossing male actor of all time (his MCU colleague Scarlett Johansson overtook him as highest grossing actor period in 2025).

As one might guess, he is a living Fountain of Memes.

Unsurprisingly, he is an element on the Periodic Table of Awesoments◊ - abbreviation Mf (element 37).

Jackson is also one of those lucky Hollywood few who is Happily Married: he has been married to LaTanya Richardson, whom he met at Morehouse College, since 1980.

Never let him read a mature parody of a children's book. Or sing a Taylor Swift song. Or do slam poetry of Boy Meets World.

He also did an anti-gun violence PSA, which can be found here, and pro-Obama commercial for the 2012 Presidential campaign.

He's also a legendary youth hockey coach.

He also owns a real life goddamn Lightsaber.

NOTABLE ROLES, MOTHERFUCKER, DO YOU LIST THEM!?

That's right, list tropes, motherfuckers!

• Ability Over Appearance: He was cast in the MCU as Nick Fury despite Fury being depicted in the comics as Caucasian (though he was depicted as... Samuel L. Jackson in the Ultimate Marvel series). But Jackson's take on the character was received so well that the main comic version of Fury was changed to African-American. ^note It was also a part of the agreement for his image to be used for the Ultimate version that he would have the right of first refusal for any film roles with the character. Funnily enough, it wasn't Marvel that first imagined Jackson as Fury, but a gag in MAD called "Hulk Fiction" back in the 90s.
• Actor Allusion:invoked You don't portray many iconic characters and become a Fountain of Memes without your later career being full of winks and nods to the fact that you're Samuel L. Jackson.
• Actor-Inspired Element: Mace Windu's purple lightsaber blade was something Jackson requested, partly because it's his favorite color but also so he'd be able to find himself in the wide shots. George Lucas actually had to adjust Star Wars canon to allow this because lightsabers weren't supposed to come in purple, but it was that or not have Jackson in his movie.
• Attending Your Own Funeral: He has portrayed at least two roles in which he is presumed dead in a No-One Could Have Survived That situation, only to turn up at his funeral, more-or-less in one piece. These are meta nods to the fact that the man makes his living playing badass characters.
• Bald of Authority:
  • He portrays the bald leader of SHIELD, Nick Fury, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, the version of Nick Fury he plays was originally based on his likeness in the comics.
  • Mace Windu in the Star Wars film series is also bald, and the de facto Number Two of the Jedi Order beneath Master Yoda.
• Catchphrase: His characters say the word "motherfucker" in nearly every role he plays. Jackson has said enough that the Huffington Post made a four-minute long video compilation of every "motherfucker" he's ever said. Only in Big Game does Jackson use the word in a PG-13-rated movie.
• Chronically Killed Actor: Along with the six deaths before Pulp Fiction, there are many others, given that bad guys or Dead Star Walking define a good chunk of his roles. See here.
• Cluster F-Bomb: The patron saint of this MOTHERFUCKING trope. In a real-life invoked Moment of Awesome, he revealed that he used to stutter, and saying "motherfucker" has helped him get over it.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: The comic book The Ultimates, a reimagination of The Avengers, designed Nick Fury after Jackson's likeness. Jackson noticed this and almost sued Marvel for blatantly using his likeness without permission. Fortunately, Jackson and Marvel were able to work things out amicably, leading to him playing a role in the MCU and elsewhere.
• Cool Old Guy: Jackson was already 50 when he first played Mace Windu and he continues to play roles that show off a considerable amount of badass well into his seventies.
• The Danza: In the 2025 Superbowl halftime show, where he played Uncle Sam.
• Deadpan Snarker: Nick Fury should be a clear indicator of how well he can pull it off, and the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director is far from the only example.
• Large Ham: Given most of his roles are mean and passionate, Jackson frequently goes over the top and shouty. Even in real life he's this way, as shown by his Twitter during◊ sports events.

• Mean Character, Nice Actor: Cluster F-Bomb tendencies and how many foul-mouthed characters he played aside, Sam is a pretty nice guy off stage who is friendly and seen as fun to work with.
• N-Word Privileges: He's defended the use of N-word in dialogue if it's appropriate to the setting^note he's one of Quentin Tarantino's most vocal defenders in this regard and says that he'll add it on his own accord if he feels that a scene needs it. And there's that time when he took the mick out of a white reporter who couldn't dare himself to say the word while interviewing him about Django Unchained:
  "No? Nobody? None? The word would be...? [...] It wasn't a great question if you can't say the word!"
  • Notably, in Coach Carter, there is a scene where Ken Carter criticizes his players for using the word.
• Old Shame: When asked about the movie Together for Days, his first credited acting appearance, he usually replied that he's glad that most people haven't seen it.
• Playing Against Type:
  • The chief engineer of Jurassic Park (1993) was one of Jackson's earlier roles before he became known as the invokedMemetic Badass he is today from films like Pulp Fiction and The Avengers (2012). It can be a little odd for a viewer used to his other roles to see Mr. Muthafuckin Snakes play a nerdy computer programmer (although he certainly has the hard-assed demeanor typical of those later roles).
  • Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequel trilogy also counts as this, since as a Jedi Jackson had to be calm and collected, and could never swear.
• Production Posse: He has participated in six Quentin Tarantino movies to this day, more than any actor who worked with the director, as well as working often for his Sitcom Arch-Nemesis, Spike Lee. invoked
• Promoted Fanboy:
  • He is a big fan of Star Wars and was thrilled he got to play a role in the prequel trilogy. He got a fairly important role, but said he would play any character, even a random mook, as long as he got to be in the movie. It was also his own request to have a purple lightsaber, so he'd be easy to spot in wide shots; George Lucas actually rewrote a small part of Star Wars canon so purple lightsabers could be canonical.
  • He's a big fan of comic books. He was quite surprised to find his face in a comic book for Ultimate Nick Fury, and when he contacted Marvel about it (ready to sue them if he didn't like the answer given that they didn't ask him permission to use his likeness), they offered him the right to play him if ever a movie was made. Come Iron Man (2008) and since then he's been playing Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He has become quite happy with this arrangement.
• Scary Black Man: The quintessential actor for this trope.
• Significant Monogram: The lightsaber used by Mr. Jackson in Star Wars has "BMF" engraved on the handle. It stands for "Bad Motherfucker", a line spoken by the actor in previous roles.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: It goes without saying. Some movies will downplay or allude to it with a Curse Cut Short, but considering the man's catchphrase is the word "motherfucker", expect him to curse in any role he plays.
• Those Two Actors:
  • With Brie Larson. The two have appeared together in five films thus far (Kong: Skull Island, Captain Marvel, Unicorn Store, Avengers: Endgame, and The Marvels (2023)).
  • With Bruce Willis. The two have acted in Die Hard with a Vengeance, Pulp Fiction, Unbreakable, and Glass (2019). And that's not counting Loaded Weapon 1 where Bruce had a 5 second cameo appearance.

Enough is ENOUGH! I have HAD it with my MOTHERFUCKIN' TROPES on my MOTHERFUCKIN' PAGE!
Edit this page AGAIN! I dare you! I double-dare you, motherfucker! EDIT THIS TROPE PAGE ONE MORE GODDAMN TIME!
See ya around like a donut, troper!
(snap)
Oh no... mother...