At this point in his career Samuel L. Jackson feels extremely comfortable playing a cop onscreen, something he does once more in Lakeview Terrace, a thriller directed by Neil LaBute. At the film's Los Angeles press junket, Jackson said all his law enforcement characters just happened; it wasn't anything he planned.
"I don't know how many cops I've played," said Jackson. "If you do enough movies, you're going to play cops a lot. You play cops and you play bad guys. A lot of stories are about bad guys vs. good guys. I've been trained by the LAPD, the SWAT team, the Secret Service, FBI, CIA, Navy Seals, the Marines, Army, Navy. So, I have a lot of gun training and a lot of law enforcement training. So, it's been kind of cool being able to do all that stuff and fire live weapons and see if you're able to use them. And kind of watch police procedure and talk to cops about what they really do and what they really don't do."
Even after all this time, the thrill of playing cops and robbers onscreen hasn't diminished for Jackson. However for this film, Jackson did have to take it a little easy when he first climbed into the character of Abel Turner. "I'm not shooting and running and jumping stuff until right at the end of the movie. But it's kind of interesting because I had back surgery I guess maybe three weeks before we started shooting. So, the doctor kept telling me when I could actually do the big fight scene. It was kind of cool when I actually found out I could do it. 'Can I do the fight scene yet?' 'Not yet. No bending. No falling.' By the time we got to it, I was glad to know I was well enough to do it."
In Lakeview Terrace, Jackson plays a cop who doesn't approve of interracial marriages. And, of course, his new neighbors on his quiet cul-de-sac are a racially mixed couple played by Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) and Kerry Washington (The Last King of Scotland). As LAPD Officer Turner, Jackson does everything in his power to make their lives a living hell.
"I think Abel has a definite point of view that he's not afraid to express," said Jackson when asked about getting into the mindset of a character who intimidates and threatens his neighbors. "Abel says what's on his mind. He has a real opinion about how he wants the world to be and what he thinks should be going on around him and in his neighborhood. He has a definite idea about how he wants to raise his kids, what he wants them to be in influenced by and he's not afraid to express that opinion and he's not afraid to do things to make the world his way."
According to Jackson, Abel Turner was more of an out and out bully in early versions of the script. As Jackson and LaBute talked things out, the character evolved. "I wanted audiences to actually have a chance to make a choice between do you want to be on this guy's side or do you want to be on this guy's side? Is it okay if this guy smokes and dumps cigarettes in his yard or is it okay if he has this light on his house because there are bad people that live behind the house and they just happen to move in and it comes on when there is movement? Is it okay for his friends to look down on him because he's a cop? Is it okay for him to feel that way? Is it okay for them to make love in their pool when they know there are kids next door who may or may not see them? So there all these questions about who he is and what he does," explained Jackson. "He has a moral compass - it just kind of goes another way."
"I just look at the character and if I like him, I start figuring out ways to make his point of view mine or figure out a backstory that allows me to get there and be in that place and let me be comfortable in it," offered Jackson.
And speaking of being comfortable, Jackson was happy with how LaBute runs his set. "We had done some rehearsal prior to even starting shooting, so we could work on the dialogue and how some of the stuff was going to be blocked," said Jackson. "Fortunately for me, he's a very, very studied and prepared director. He's great at what he does. It was kind of freeing to have somebody that you trust on the other side once you realize they have the capacity to do the things that are necessary to allow you to not think about his lines or your lines or where you're going to stand or where you're going to be. That you can just free yourself and be in the scene. Patrick [Wilson] always gave me that freedom and I hope I gave that to him."
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Lakeview Terrace hits theaters on September 19, 2008.
