Samuel L Jackson on Nick Fury and Spike Lee's Michael Jackson Film

May 10, 2010 - Samuel L Jackson competed against himself the weekend of May 7, 2010, although one of his films had a distinct advantage. Jackson hit the big screen starring in the independent film Mother and Child alongside Naomi Watts, Annette Bening and Kerry Washington, and the same weekend he was seen playing Nick Fury in what's likely to be one of the biggest films of 2010: Iron Man 2. And besides those two films now out in theaters, Jackson hasn't exactly been taking time off to relax. He's got a lot of projects on his plate (the Nick Fury deal alone means he's going to be in a number of Marvel Enterprises' films) and at the LA press day for Sony Pictures Classics Mother and Child, Jackson was asked about a few of the many other projects he's attached to:

On His Involvement with the Next Spike Lee Joint Project:

"I think this is like Spike’s Michael Jackson movie. Spike said he was kind of bent out of shape about Michael Jackson for a long time. He was depressed, sitting in the bathroom with the door closed or something...I don't know. He’s written this movie that I guess is about these folks who want to have a big concert in the park in Brooklyn for Michael, and the new gentrified people that live in the neighborhood are worried about the kind of 'element' that might be coming into their neighborhood in the park, so they’re trying to prevent that from happening. But looks like I might be doing it."

Is Saying Yes to Spike Lee a No-Brainer?:

"Oh, no, not really. Not really. I mean, I haven’t done a Spike movie since Jungle Fever so something’s happening there. Actually, the day after Academy Awards, Spike and I had lunch together. I saw us on TMZ, so apparently we had lunch together, had a little power meeting at Mr. Chow’s which I told him, 'Why do you go to Mr. Chow’s? You know somebody’s going to take our picture.' We did anyway, went to Mr. Chow’s and talked about it, and I read the script. I like it. It’s fun, so it should be okay. Hopefully Julianne Moore will be my wife and we’ll have some fun."

Asked if Spike Lee was really depressed over Michael Jackson's death, Jackson said, "He said he was then. He’s over it now, but I guess that depression sent him into writing that story. He was disturbed by the death. I’m sure he’ll tell you about it."

On Nick Fury and the Nine Film Deal:

"I got started on it when I did the end of Iron Man. My foot was on the path. Now my foot's a little deeper on the path because we’ve got Iron Man 2. I'm not in Thor. Supposed to do Captain America this summer in London."



On Why Nick Fury Isn't in Thor:

"I have no idea. I'm not in charge of making those decisions. I thought I was, they said I was in the trades and I was like, 'Ooh! I got a job!' I called my agent, she said, 'Nah, you're not in it. They misprinted.' I was like, 'Well, shit, they need to pay me just because they put my name in it. Somethin'."

On the Desire for a Starring Vehicle for Nick Fury:

"The Avengers is my own starring vehicle for that character, pretty much."

And Jackson confirmed The Avengers will begin filming in February 2011.