Samuel L. Jackson and Viola Davis are two titans in their trade. The accomplished actors appeared on the latest episode of Variety’s Actors on Actors, where they sat down for a conversation about the dawn of their careers and their current projects. While telling Davis about waiting for his big break, Jackson dropped a piece of advice that everyone needs to hear.
In a clip of the conversation, Jackson posed a question to Davis.
“Were you in a space where somebody would get plucked and you knew you were in the right place?” he asked the How to Get Away With Murder actress.
He continued, explaining his question with an anecdote from his career.
“It’s like when I was at the Public [Theatre’s] Mother Courage [and Her Children] and all of the sudden I was Morgan’s [Freeman] understudy. He got Street Smart and it was like wow,” he said, recounting how the 85-year-old blew up after playing Fast Black in the 1987 film.
Jackson gave another example.
“We were doing A Soldier’s Play and Denzel [Washington] left to go do St. Elsewhere and then he started doing movies, but then he would come back and do the play and hang out with us,” he said with a chuckle.
He then inserted his poignant and insightful reflection at the time.
“I’m in the right place, it’s just not my turn,” he said.
The majority of viewers appreciated the reminder to keep hustling.
“Good stuff. Just making sure I’m ready when it’s my turn,” one user wrote.
“I needed this,” another added.
“This is truth,” one viewer stated.
Others sought out additional input from the actor.
“And how long do you wait for that?” one viewer questioned. “Viola recently said she still isn’t as successful as her peers. Jackson couldn’t get a leading role to save his life. So I wonder what that means to them. And why do you only get one turn?”
While Jackson didn’t expound on the amount of chances one gets to succeed, he did explain a rule he established for himself early in his career.
He told Davis that he refused to pack up and head to Hollywood “until they sent for me,” having seen many of his fellow thespians head to Hollywood jobless and not find success. Davis shared she had the same rule, saying Hollywood “is a finishing school, this is not a place of discovery.”
