Samuel L Jackson has revealed that he was among a group of people racially profiled by police in 1993, during the shooting of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
In a piece published in Vanity Fair magazine, the actor related how he and a group of friends had visited a restaurant after he had performed at the Coast Playhouse on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, while on a break from filming.
When we were done, we walked outside and stood on the corner for a while, just talking. All of a sudden, five sheriff’s cars screeched up. The policemen surrounded us, guns pointed, lights in our face: “Get on the ground!”
There we were, lying facedown in the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard. I finally said to the cops, “Why are you doing this?” One of them said, ‘Oh, we got a report of five black guys standing on the corner with guns and bats.’
Jackson said that the unpleasant incident – which did not, apparently, lead to the actor’s arrest – made him aware that racial discrimination was still a major problem. “It kind of put my feet back on the ground in terms of ‘OK, you’re still just another nigger working in town, so you still got to walk softly.’ And I still do. Just an object lesson for life in LA.”
Jackson would go on to receive an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his role as Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction.
