Samuel L. Jackson Doesn't Mind Ignoring His Agents' Advice

I've never seen a bad Samuel L. Jackson performance. I've seen bad movies with him in them, but he usually manages to save these films with his golden one-liners. Case in point: "Enough is enough! I have had it with these mutha****** snakes on this mutha****** plane!"

2006's "Snakes on a Plane" had one of those campy movie scripts that agents beg their A-list clients to run away from. Jackson, on the other hand, heard merely the title of movie and exclaimed, "Snakes on a Plane. Oh, s***, I need to be in that!'"

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jackson revealed that when he petitioned himself to be cast in the film, even the big wigs at New Line Cinema were like, "are you sure?" And then came the head scratches from his representatives, who couldn't fathom why Jackson, who had iconic roles in "Pulp Fiction" and the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, would attach himself to such a movie.

Samuel L. Jackson's career spans five decades; that's a lot of roles. Naturally, his reps' attempt to talk him out of joining "Snakes on a Plane," wasn't the only time the actor's management tried to dissuade him from a movie. Jackson told Entertainment Weekly that his people didn't want him taking roles in the 1996 action thriller "Long Kiss Goodnight," 2005's buddy cop comedy "The Man," and a plethora of other comedy and adventure stories.

Jackson said his reps' pushbacks were warranted, as many of those films didn't perform well at the box office. But he doesn't consider just the potential financial payoff, or the lack thereof when considering a movie role. He doesn't factor in how absurd a role may be perceived or how the potential backlash may hurt his reputation. "I'm doing movies for other people to go see and have some fun because I want to go see them and have some fun. It's just that simple," Jackson told EW.

While his reps tried to talk him out of "Long Kiss Goodnight," Jackson revealed in an episode of GQ's "Actually Me" that the movie is the one he enjoys watching the most out of his entire filmography.

Samuel L. Jackson's approach to managing his movie career is refreshing. He has literally ensured that his profession, which at times can come across as high-pressured and cutthroat, remains a dream job. Actors can become overwhelmed and lose their sense of self when they constantly have agents and managers in their ears saying, "Yes, you should do this. No, you shouldn't do that. Definitely, don't do that."

But even after five decades in the game, Jackson remains grounded by remembering and sticking to what made him fall in love with the film industry in the first place. I trust he has surrounded himself with managers and agents who believe they are working in the actor's best interest and trying to protect him from what they perceive to be lousy movies, like the one about a snake-infested plane. But if Samuel L. Jackson saw "Snakes on a Plane" as a special kind of movie, then there's nothing they could do to stop him.

"My agents and managers have finally figured out that I'm pretty much going to do what I want to do," Jackson said.