Samuel L. Jackson

"When reporters asked me, 'Are there any directors you want to work with that you haven't worked with before,' I would say, 'George Lucas is about to do the Star Wars thing, I'd really love to work with him.' And I said that often enough that somebody heard it and told him. I got invited to the Ranch to see if I was serious about that. Yeah, sure! You can make me a stormtrooper if you want, I don't care&mdash;as long as I know I'm in the movie, I don't care if anybody else knows or not."

- Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson (born December 21, 1948) played Jedi Master Mace Windu in the prequel trilogy. He later voiced his character in The Clone Wars film and the video game LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. Jackson was offered the role of Windu after he announced on a radio program that he was a fan of the films. Prior to the release of Revenge of the Sith, Jackson stated in an interview that his death scene would not have him "going out like a punk".

Early life
Jackson grew up as an only child in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was raised by his mother, Elizabeth Jackson (née Montgomery), and his maternal grandparents and extended family. He attended Morehouse College.

Career
Jackson starred in five Spike Lee films, including School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever and Oldboy. He also worked several times for Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Volume 2, Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained.

In 1991, Jackson won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction in 1994. This role also earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and several other awards and nominations. In 1998, Jackson won the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival for his role in Jackie Brown. Jackson also received several Golden Globe nominations for his performances in Pulp Fiction, Against the Wall, A Time to Kill and Jackie Brown.

Jackson hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 1998 and the Spike Video Game Awards four times: in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2012. At the 2009 VGAs, he previewed LucasArts's game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.

Since Iron Man in 2008, Jackson has appeared in several other Marvel movies as Colonel Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., such as Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, and the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. He also portrayed Fury in ABC's TV series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

In 2011, he became the highest-grossing actor of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Jackson played in the 1998 film Coming to America starring James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader in the movies). They worked together again, along with Harrison Ford (Han Solo), for the 1992 film Patriot Games. In 1994, Jackson shared screen with Phil LaMarr in Pulp Fiction. In 1999, he provided voice in the educational film Our Friend, Martin along with James Earl Jones and Edward Asner (voice of Vrook Lamar in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel). In 2001, he worked with Tara Strong (voice of Risha Drayen and Holiday in the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game) for one episode of the TV series The Proud Family. In 2004, he provided voice for the video game adaptation of The Incredibles with Chris Edgerly (voice of Eeth Koth in The Clone Wars TV series). In 2007, he also provided voice for the TV miniseries Afro Samurai along with Phil LaMarr, Terrence Carson (Windu's official "audio double"), John DiMaggio (voice of General Grievous and Sha'a Gi for Clone Wars Chapter 20), Jason Marsden, Jeff Bennett and Tara Strong. In 2008, Jackson played alongside Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker in Episode II and Episode III) and Nathalie Cox (Juno Eclipse) in Jumper. The same year, he shared screen with Jaime King (voice of Aurra Sing in The Clone Wars) in the film The Spirit. Jackson appeared in Iron Man and its 2010 sequel Iron Man 2, both directed by Jon Favreau (voice of Pre Vizsla in The Clone Wars). In 2009, he provided voice for  Afro Samurai' s sequel, Afro Samurai: Resurrection, alongside Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Grey DeLisle, Jeff Bennett, Steve Blum, Phil LaMarr and Kevin Michael Richardson. The same year, he worked with Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa) for the drama film Mother and Child, with Dee Bradley Baker for the animated film Astro Boy, and with Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones and Mark Hamill for Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey. In 2011, he made an uncredited cameo in the film Thor starring Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala).

Personal life
In 1980, Jackson married actress and television producer LaTanya Richardson. They have a daughter named Zoe, born in 1982. In 2009, he and his wife created a charitable foundation to help support education.

Behind the scenes
Before the filming of the Battle of Geonosis began, Jackson asked director George Lucas what colors there were for lightsabers. Lucas told him blue and green for the good guys and red for bad guys. When Jackson inquired as to whether purple was a possibility, Lucas only answered: "You might get purple". Mace Windu became the first Jedi depicted in a Star Wars movie to have a lightsaber that was not red, blue or green.

When asked about having a potential role in Star Wars Episode VII or any future film that Disney had planned, Jackson commented that he had not been contacted for a role in the film and that he was busy with a number of other roles, but expressed interest in appearing in another film, and stated that he had high hopes for the new movies.