Samuel L. Jackson Shares Bruce Willis' Career Advice from Die Hard, Realizes Its Value with MCU's Nick Fury Role

In a fascinating exchange of wisdom between Hollywood legends, Samuel L. Jackson shared a valuable piece of advice he received from Bruce Willis while filming the 1994 action blockbuster, Die Hard With a Vengeance. Willis imparted a crucial insight about the importance of having a signature character that fans adore, which can serve as a reliable fallback in the unpredictable world of cinema.

"He told me, 'Hopefully you’ll be able to find a character that, when you make bad movies and they don’t make any money, you can always go back to this character everybody loves,'" Jackson recounted to Vanity Fair during a special feature celebrating Willis' 70th birthday. Willis used examples of other iconic roles to illustrate his point: "Arnold [Schwarzenegger]'s got Terminator. Sylvester [Stallone]'s got Rocky and Rambo. I’ve got John McClane." This advice resonated with Jackson, but it wasn't until he landed the role of Nick Fury that he realized its full significance.

Jackson first stepped into the shoes of Nick Fury with a cameo in the post-credits scene of 2008's Iron Man. He then fully embraced the character in 2010's Iron Man 2. Since his debut, Jackson has reprised the role in an impressive lineup of 10 films, three TV series, and two video games. His most recent portrayals include the 2023 film The Marvels, the series Secret Invasion, and a voice role in the Season 2 finale of the animated series Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.

Reflecting on his journey with Marvel, Jackson humorously pondered his longevity in relation to his nine-picture deal. In a September 2024 interview with GQ, he recalled his initial reaction to the offer from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige: "I knew I had a nine-picture deal when Kevin [Feige] said, he was like, ‘We wanna offer you a nine-picture deal’ I was like, 'How long I gotta stay alive to make nine movies?'" Little did he know that the Marvel machine would churn out these films at a breakneck pace. "It's not the quickest process in the world and people don't do it, so I didn't know they were gonna make nine movies in like two-and-a-half years. Which is kind of crazy. I was like 'Oh s—t, I'm using up my contracts!' but it worked out."