Snakes On A Fanboy Planet:
An Intimate Conversation With Samuel L. Jackson

Later, violinists came by to serenade us...

Heck, if you don't know anything about this movie, it's because fear of snakes has paralyzed you and kept you from looking on the web or opening a magazine. It's everywhere.

So today begins the first part of the transcriptions of our conversations -- beginning with the man himself, Samuel L. Jackson. We were not, however, allowed to gather photographic evidence, so you'll have to settle for Mark Teague's artistic rendition of my conversation with Mr. Jackson -- and the sound files you can download.

Oh, and trust me. Any questions that seem to have annoyed Mr. Jackson -- they're mine. All mine.

Press: How's it feel to be at Comic-Con?

Samuel L. Jackson: Like I'm at a junket. It's not like I can go down there on the floor and engage.

Press: Well, you could go down dressed as Mace Windu and walk around and see how long it would take anybody to figure out.

Samuel L. Jackson: See how far I get doing that.

Press: What attracted you to this film? What appealed to you?

Samuel L. Jackson: It had nothing to do with the title. My first awareness of this film was Ronny Yu was going to do it. I saw it in the trades, "Ronny Yu to direct Snakes on a Plane." So I e-mailed Ronny to say, "what is this? Is this the horror movie you were talking about doing?"

He said, "yep." So I said "okay, I want to be in it." He said "For real?" "Well, yeah."

So he told New Line and New Line called my agent, and my agent said "I don't know." And my manager said, yeah, he'll probably do it.

All of a sudden I was attached. As things happened, Ronny ended up not doing the picture, but I'm still here. So yeah, I hadn't seen a script. All I knew was the concept.

Press: What were your feelings when all that changed? When you finally got a director and you finally got a script?

Samuel L. Jackson: It didn't matter. It was what I thought it was. As long as it was what I thought it was going to be, it was fine. That movie that I used to leave home on Saturday afternoon to see so I could scream real loud and yell and freak my friends out and do stuff in it. It was all about a Saturday afternoon excitement film.

If Samuel L. Jackson ran the ratings board, THIS would be the poster. Courtesy of Snakesonablog.com

Press: This has become a real internet phenomenon. Have people been sending you pictures and video over email?

Samuel L. Jackson: I go on YouTube every day, Snakesonablog, see what's new. Yeah, I keep up.

Press: Do you have any favorites?

Samuel L. Jackson: I'm digging "Someone Tell Sam Jackson He's My Bro." I like that song. I sing it a lot.

Press: What was your experience like working with the snakes? How much preparation did you have to do?

Samuel L. Jackson: None. I mean, I walked into the snake room some days and just looked around at 'em, but other than that, I didn't see 'em. Snakes were on the second unit.

My agent was insistent (assumes prissy voice), "no snakes within twenty feet of Sam."

I didn't care. In the beginning they were talking about having rattlesnakes with the venom sacs taken out of them. "Oh, hell, no." That don't work for me.

I don't have a fear of snakes or anything like that. I grew up in the country. When I was a kid, if we saw a snake, the snake was in a lot more trouble than we were. We'd chase it. Catch it. Beat it with a stick.

I handled 'em. I had no problem with that. I had snakes draped all over me the other day when we were doing a photo shoot.

Press: Originally this movie was PG-13, then after New Line saw all this hype…

Samuel L. Jackson Yeah, somebody woke up.

Press: Oh?

Later, violinists came by to serenade us...

Samuel L. Jackson: "Wait a minute…it's a better film…" I mean, come on. It makes no sense to make a film like this, in this day and age, and shoot it like it's a 1960's horror movie. Or cowboy movie. Or anything where a snake strikes somebody offscreen and you come back on going (holds wounded arm) "oh! Oh, my gawd…"

Come on. You've got the capability of showing snakes striking people, so do it.

There's certain things that are requirements for horror films. If two people go into the bathroom to join the Mile High Club, you gotta see …the girl's breasts. That's part of what people paid their money for.

If you watch any film about kids who are out in the woods having sex, or kids in a haunted house having sex, or kids in a car having sex, you gotta see that breast -- that gratuitous breast - before the killer shows up.

It just so happens that this is a snake. Gotta see a snake on a tit!

(table pretty much loses it)

Press: That will be in video stores later.

Samuel L. Jackson: That'll be the porn version of the movie. Snakes on a tit.

Part Two, in which he discusses the movie itself, and defends his choice to be in it.

 

Derek McCaw