‘Pulp Fiction’: Samuel L. Jackson Was Supposed to Have a Different Hairstyle Than His Iconic Jheri Curl
Before he was Marvel’s Nick Fury, before he was in Star Wars, Pulp Fiction was Samuel L. Jackson’s breakthrough movie that made him a movie star. He’d already been working hard in Spike Lee dramas and comedies like Loaded Weapon 1 and Amos & Andrew. But Bible quoting hitman Jules earned Jackson Oscar nominations and made him one of the most in demand actors in Hollywood. And his iconic hairstyle in the film wasn’t even the one he was supposed to have.
Paramount Home Entertainment released Pulp Fiction on 4K UHD on Dec. 6. As many times as Pulp Fiction fans have watched it, they’ve never seen it in detail like this. The release also includes the 2011 retrospective “Not the Usual Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat” in which Jackson tells the wig story.
Samuel L. Jackson had iconic hair in ‘Pulp Fiction’
Writer/director Quentin Tarantino was influenced by the gangster films of the ‘70s, including Blaxploitation action movies. So he wanted Jackson in Pulp Fiction to look like a ‘70s Black movie hero.
“Quentin was going for a blaxploitation big afro look,” Jackson said. “He sent a PA to a wig store and she was supposed to get an afro wig and she came back with a Jheri curl wig. Quentin was going, ‘No no no no no take it back, take it back.’”
Samuel L. Jackson convinced ‘Pulp Fiction’ director Quentin Tarantino to let him wear a Jheri curl
Jackson wanted the Jheri curl wig though. And in fact, that and John Travolta’s long haired wig are the most striking detail in the new Pulp Fiction 4K edition. You can see every strand of hair, so good thing Jackson fought for it.
“I was like, ‘No wait. NWA, Ice Cube, all those guys had Jheri curls, drippy Jheri curls in. That’s the look of the gangs and all those guys who are over there banging,’” Jackson said. “He said, ‘Put it on.’ I put it on and we shined it up a bit. It was kind of like okay, this is who he is. Jules messes with his hair.”
The one scene Samuel L. Jackson never got to shot
Jackson got his way with Jules’ wig, but he lost another Pulp Fiction battle. There are some deleted scenes from Pulp Fiction, but Jackson never got to film one scripted moment in the diner. When Jules thwarts Pumpkin (Amanda Plummer) and Honeybun (Tim Roth)’s robbery, he was supposed to imagine shooting them both.
The only regret I have is in the original script I shot him. I would shoot him and then I’d shoot her off the counter top. Then I would open my eyes and you’d realize they were still there because that’s what Jules would’ve done before the revelation in the apartment. Quentin said no, I’m not going to shoot it, I’m not going to shoot it. He wouldn’t shoot it because he said if he shot it he would keep it. I’m like that’s part of the beauty of what’s going on here. I still regret to this day that we never actually shot that because I still think it would’ve been something good on the outtakes.
Samuel L. Jackson, “Not the Usual Mindless Boring Getting to Know You Chit Chat”
