Samuel L. Jackson Once Didn’t Work With a Director Anymore After a Disagreement on His Hair
Samuel L. Jackson has sported a variety of hairstyles in his movies, from Pulp Fiction to Unbreakable. But there was one unnamed filmmaker who tried to restrict the hairdo Jackson wore in a movie.
Samuel L. Jackson on his favorite movie hair
Jackson often chooses his hairstyle for the characters that he portrays in movies. Occasionally the actor would feel a certain hairdo would fit a particular role, while also telling audiences a bit more about his character’s story.
In the M. Night Shyamalan film Unbreakable, for instance, Jackson portrays a genius with hints of mental instability. Both Shyamalan and Jackson agreed that a disheveled look for Jackson’s hair would be best for his Unbreakable counterpart.
“I was thinking Frederick Douglass,” he once said according to LA Times about his character’s hair. “It informed my character very well because he’s a thinker.”
But one of Jackson’s most cherished hairstyles was the hair he wore for Jackie Brown. If only because of his hair’s flexibility at the time he was filming Quentin Tarantino’s Elmore Leonard adaptation.
“I could wear it straight down or I could tie a French braid in the back or I could rock a ponytail,” Jackson said. “He’s trying to be this elegant Super Fly-kind of guy — Super Fly is his favorite movie and that’s what Ron O’Neal’s hair looked like.”
Samuel L. Jackson didn’t work with a director after hairdo restrictions on the film
In the 2008 sci-fi feature Jumper, Jackson wears another interesting hairdo. His hair is dyed white for the entirety of the film, which was a suggestion Jackson made for his character Roland Cox. In an old interview he did with Black Film, Jackson confided that his hairstyle for the film was partially inspired by comic books.
“When [Jumper director Doug Liman] and I talked about it in a comic book sense, and I read comics most of the time,” Jackson said. “I’ve been reading comics since I was a kid and most characters in comics are very distinct. They have a look of some sort. I think Roland is sort of ageless in a way. We don’t know how old he is and that gives him a sense of gravitas in a way, but he’s also strong and principled. It also makes him distinctive. That’s all. No big deal.”
In the interview, the Far From Home star also revealed he recommends most of his movie hairstyles. However, he did come across one filmmaker who might not have offered Jackson the freedom he enjoyed when it came to his on-screen hair.
“I have only had one director who had a mandate for my hair and I don’t work [with] him anymore,” he said.
Samuel L. Jackson questioned shaving his head for movies
It takes a lot of work to get an actor’s hair ready for film. It often requires the expertise of a passionate hair specialist to complete the job right. Robert L. Stevenson is a hair stylist who’s worked on the hairdos of many celebrities in the film industry, including Jackson’s.
When Jackson was concerned he wasn’t holding onto his hair, Jackson questioned Stevenson if simply going bald would’ve been a viable option.
“He was losing his hair at one point and said, ‘If I just shaved it all off could we still create looks with wigs?'” Stevenson said in a 2014 interview with Deadline. “I said, ‘Sam, we can basically do anything with wigs.’ That’s when we started getting into it.”
