Samuel L. Jackson has just been given his first-ever Oscar. At the Governors Awards, the honorary arm of the Academy Awards, Denzel Washington appeared to present a lifetime achievement award to Jackson, a longtime friend and fellow Hollywood star. Footage of Jackson receiving the honorary Oscar has been going viral, as the actor is just as thrilled about the award as Washington is to give it to him.
Other lifetime achievement awards were given out, with one to Elaine May by Bill Murray and another to Liv Ullman by John Lithgow. The awards are meant to honor "extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy." Danny Glover was also present where he was honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which presented to "an individual in the motion picture arts and sciences whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry."
Samuel L. Jackson has been appearing on the big screen for decades, breaking onto the scene in 1972's Together for Days. He has since become established as an A-lister in Hollywood with a variety of well-known and popular roles over the course of his career. From his collaborations with Quentin Tarantino to his time in the Star Wars universe and the MCU, Jackson is clearly more than deserving of the prestigious award.
Many Samuel L. Jackson Fans Believe He Should Have Won an Oscar Decades Ago
Oddly enough, Jackson has never won an Oscar in the past, making this lifetime achievement award serve as his first-ever Oscar. He has only been nominated once, which was for Best Supporting Actor for the role of Jules Winnfield in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Martin Landau won the Oscar that year for his role in Ed Wood.
Recently, Jackson addressed his Oscar nomination for Pulp Fiction. He suggests that he should have won the award that year, but notes that what really matters is how many tickets a movie sells. Collectively, Jackson's movies have earned billions of dollars, so there's no denying that the actor has more than proven his worth.
“I guess Black folk usually win for doing despicable s**t on screen. Like Denzel [Washington] for being a horrible cop in Training Day. All the great stuff he did in uplifting roles like ‘Malcolm X’? No – we’ll give it to this motherf**ker ... So maybe I should have won one," Jackson told The Times. "But Oscars don’t move the comma on your check — it’s about getting a**es in seats and I’ve done a good job of doing that.
He added, "All movies are valid. Some go to the cinema to be moved dearly. Some like superheroes. If somebody has more butts on seats it just means your audience is not as broad. There are people who have had successful careers but nobody can recite one line of their parts. I’m the guy who says s**t that’s on a T-shirt ... They should have an Oscar for the most popular movie, because that’s what the business is about.”