The story of how Samuel L. Jackson became a Jedi in Star Wars… told by himself

The Avengers, Star Wars, Quentin Tarantino’s cinematic universe… Samuel L. Jackson He has earned the privilege of being very selective with his roles: from Nick Fury to Frozone, to Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction and everything in between those three vertices. Jackson doesn’t just play iconic roles for the world’s greatest directors: he nails them. What if I told you that when George Lucas signed him for the galaxy far, far away from him, he settled for wear stormtrooper armor for a while?

Lucas imagined the mighty Mace Windu long before the final scripts for Star Wars (or, as it would later be known, A new hope), and that character remained in a drawer for decades… Until the premiere of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. In 1999, LucasFilm added tons of elements to the saga’s background, including the Jedi Temple and, at the top of it, the Jedi Council itself. The place of highest honor of the order in which, by the way, there was a seat reserved for Mace Windu. Or better, for Samuel L. Jackson.

The truly curious thing is that, as Samuel L. Jackson himself will tell, he had no idea that this role was going to be for him. In fact, as you will see below, he was even surprised when he found out that he was going to play a Jedi. And if you don’t defend yourself in English, we explain it to you just below.

To put ourselves in context, and as told in the Talk Show Late Night with Seth MeyersJackson was not only a fan of Star Wars but rather experienced the phenomenon since its release in theaters. Another thing is that he imagined that at some point he would have the opportunity to appear in movies. Something that happened after two unexpected twists: a sincere confession on a talk show and that, right after this, George Lucas’ script was not finished.

At first, I had no idea what I was going to do. I happened to be on a Talk Show like this and they asked me if there were any directors I’d like to work with, and my answer was George Lucas. Because I would love to be in a Star Wars movie.

It turns out that at the time I was filming Sphere in Vallejo, which is very close to Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, so I got a call and they said George wanted to see me. So I went to his house and he still hadn’t finished the script so he told me he didn’t know what I would do in the movie and I told him

“Look, put me in the role of a Stormtrooper. Then I walk past the screen and no one has to know. Just let me appear, that’ll be fine.”

The day Sam Jackson met Yoda

From here it’s time to make a nuance: Samuel L. Jackson was already a great Hollywood personality at that time. Before the premiere of The Phantom Menace, he was able to stand out in roles in films such as the third installment of the Die Hard saga (the jungle of crystal), the aforementioned Pulp Fiction either Jackie Brown; so the gesture of appearing in the film, even with his face covered, was more due to his desire to appear in Star Wars. So, when it was time to film and he traveled to London, he had no idea what his role was going to be.

Months later I received a call to come to London, because George was ready to film. I didn’t see the script or see anything at all. I didn’t have anything planned [y eso es totalmente inusual en mí]so when I arrived they took me directly to try on the costumes.

So when I walked in [en el vestuario] I found some boots and a woman brought me a Jedi robe, and my name was on the door. And the woman said to me something like “Ok, let’s try the boots and tunic on you and see how it goes…” and I said, “Wait! I’m a Jedi?!”, and she said, “Well yeah “.

The really curious thing about the matter is that even during the costume test Jackson assimilated that he was going to act as a backup. Not having to wear an empire helmet was a big surprise, but the fact that he would share a scene and dialogue with one of the most powerful and iconic characters in the saga caught him completely off guard.

And then someone brought me the phrases and I asked “who is this [personaje]?” and he said “Mace Windu is you.” And I said… “Oh, Ohh, am I talking to Yoda? OKAY! Very good very good!” [risas] “So, that’s because I’m not going to die for now.”

So I put on my costume, I went downstairs, I met Frank Oz [el titiritero y la voz de Yoda] because at that time Yoda was a puppet, and Oz and the puppet, and everyone who was working on that… and suddenly someone came with a kind of briefcase with eight models of lightsabers and told me “you have to choose one “. And I almost died. “I want that one!”

Jackson reprized as Windu in the next two films. Star Wars. However, before releasing the Episode IIIin 2004, he became the greatest actor of the moment, surpassing Harrison Ford himself (none other than Han Solo) with the premiere of The Incredibles.

A legendary lightsaber engraved with three letters: BMF

It is quite well known that Samuel L. Jackson himself suggested to George Lucas the color of his lightsaber. Lucas told him that the bad ones were red and the good ones were blue or green and he simply asked if his could be purple. The rest is history. However, What happened to that sword in more civilized times? Well, the funny thing is that the color thing wasn’t the only addition Mace Windu made to his sword.

I have my lightsaber at home, and the props department gave it a “BMF” [Big Mother Fucker] on the switch. It’s amazing.

The character of Mace Windu did not have the same time on screen as other great protagonists of the Skywalker saga, but needless to say that he ended up being much more than a cameo and his weight in the background of Star Wars did not stop there: we later saw him in the video games, the novels, series like Clone Wars and, by far, he is one of the most recognizable Jedi Masters in the entire franchise. And after that?

In February 2024, Samuel L. Jackson himself assured that Mace Windu “is not dead!”, although what he really wants is to wield his lightsaber again and, if the occasion permits, star in a Star Wars series. If that trick of making wishes without cutting a hair worked with George Lucas, we are sure that in the current Lucasfilm the message It has come to them loud and clear..

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