Samuel L. Jackson on Being on Set with the Cast of The Avengers and on Finally Seeing Some Action as Nick Fury
Posted 08.05.11 by BrentJS
Samuel L. Jackson has already gotten to share screen time with Marvel titans — Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man and
Iron Man 2, and Chris Evans in First Avenger: Captain America — in his four appearances as Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division). But, in The Avengers, he will be one of the titans, as Fury is upgraded from mysterious, behind-the-scenes superhero recruiter to tactical leader of a small army of superheroes facing a global threat. In a recent interview with the BBC, Jackson discussed what it is like to share the stage with so many actors playing iconic characters and revealed he will "do things to people" in The Avengers, rather than simply watching from the sidelines.
We're all really good friends. It's just kind of funny to stand there in a room and look around and see everybody. Thor [Chris Hemsworth] standing there in his costume, Captain America — sometimes he's dressed, sometimes he's not — Scarlett [Johansson] is there as Black Widow, and, uh, Robert Downey is there — he very seldom has his Iron Man costume on when he's just hanging around with us, but it's just amazing to look around the room and see all of those guys there, and go, "Okay, this is cool."
I'm actually doing more than I've done than in any of the other films so you don't have to wait until the end of the movie to see me. I'm actually around the whole movie so I do a lot more and I have action scenes and I actually do things to people in this movie.
And, in case you missed it, here's a video clip that includes Jackson's last scene as Fury from the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, plus a sneak peek at his turn in The Avengers, which is still in production.
The Avengers was written by and is currently being directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse). Despite Jackson's script being stolen just as the movie went into production at the end of April, the plot remains pretty much a mystery. It is known that Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the villain in Thor, will have some part to play, but whether he will be working solo or conspiring with the shapeshifting Skrulls, the mad Titan Thanos, or some other villain or villains, remains to be seen. The cast includes Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson, Cobie Smulders as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill and Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig.
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4, 2012