Samuel L. Jackson has drawn some backlash lately for expressing his political beliefs, and his dislike of Donald Trump in particular, but in an interview with Esquire, the Captain Marvel star remained unapologetic.
When the interviewer observed that a lot of public figures choose to keep their opinions to themselves to avoid jeopardizing their careers, Jackson argued that not saying anything to oppose Trump makes you complicit.
“This motherfucker is like running the planet and all kinds of other crazy shit. And the people think that’s okay. It’s not fucking okay. And if you’re not saying anything, then you’re complicit. And I wouldn’t give a fuck if I was a garbageman and I had a Twitter account; I’d tweet that shit out. I’m not thinking about who I am and what my job is when I do that shit.”
The actor went on to explain that the risk of antagonizing his fans isn’t a concern to him, saying:
“I know how many motherfuckers hate me. ‘I’m never going to see a Sam Jackson movie again.’ Fuck I care? If you never went to another movie I did in my life, I’m not going to lose any money. I already cashed that check. Fuck you. Burn up my videotapes. I don’t give a fuck. ‘You’re an actor. Stick to acting.’ ‘No, motherfucker. I’m a human being that feels a certain way.’”
And some of this shit does affect me, because if we don’t have health care, shit, and my relatives get sick, they’re going to call my rich ass. I want them to have health care. I want them to be able to take care of themselves. This is how I feel. And I count to one hundred some days before I hit ‘send,’ because I know how that shit is.”
Jackson’s Captain Marvel co-star Brie Larson has drawn similar condemnation for calling for more diversity in film criticism, and for encouraging stronger female and minority representation at the movie’s press events. Consequently, the film has been the subject of a fair amount of online backlash, though you wouldn’t think it looking at Captain Marvel’s box office figures, with the pic opening last weekend to a domestic haul of $153 million. In the days since, it’s amassed a global box office total of almost $600 million.
With these numbers, it’s safe to assume that Marvel Studios will be sticking to their plan of making Carol Danvers one of the leading figures in the MCU. While another solo outing has yet to be officially announced, Captain Marvel is at least confirmed to return in Avengers: Endgame, which hits theaters on April 26th. As for Jackson, though the actor’s involvement in Endgame remains up in the air, Nick Fury will be back on our screens soon enough with the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.
