We have an exclusive interview with actor Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the surprisingly sadistic servant Stephen to Leonardo DiCaprio’s devilish plantation owner Calvin Candie in Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist western, DJANGO UNCHAINED. A few questions were put to the actor about his controversial role in what is his fourth collaboration with the Oscar-winner director.
Q. Do you think this film could serve as the younger generation’s “Roots” and does it have a social message?
A. I’m sure there is but not in, like, a “Roots” way. It deals with slavery in a way that we haven’t seen slavery dealt with cinematically in a very long time. I guess, at the deep end of it, you understand that slavery wasn’t just this hard time in the lives of black people. They weren’t just out in fields picking cotton and singing songs and trying to make it. Life was worth a lot less. Life was cheap, in a way. The different prices people were bought and sold for or the fact that somebody could just kill you on a whim. People might say, well, that still happens and that is still part of it. I looked at the movie more as Shaft out west. Quentin has always liked blaxploitation films and he loves spaghetti westerns and he found a way to marry those two things. I actually think Jamie is a modern day hero in that way. A hero that most young people and most of us haven’t seen: the black Western hero. It’s kind of great.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your character?
A. Quentin sent me that script and I read it and I had to call him back and say, “So, you really want me to play the most hated Negro in cinematic history?” And he was like, “Yeah.” So I embraced the idea and I kind of got there. Stephen’s born and raised on that plantation. His father and grandfather did the job that Stephen does: they took care of the Candie men and the family and that house. Stephen essentially raised Calvin so Calvin is more of a reflection of Stephen than anyone else in that house. When Calvin’s not there, Stephen runs the plantation. When Calvin’s there, Stephen runs the plantation. That’s who he is. It’s essentially his place. He believes in slavery and the way it operates. And when Jamie shows up on a horse, with a gun and is talking out of turn, it’s a bad example for the slaves on that plantation. They shouldn’t even know you could aspire to be something like that, which is the beginning of our animosity. It’s even deeper than that but I don’t think anybody will find that out until they see the five-hour DVD version of this movie.
Q. Would you call this film a revenge story, a love story or a social injustice story?
A. It’s a love story. I don’t know what the revenge would be. His wife is still alive so she’s not dead. He’s just trying to find her. And when he finds her and rescues her, it’s essentially the story that Chrisoph is telling Jamie about “Brunhilde” and “Siegfried.” He’s Siegfried and she’s Brunhilde. He saves her. And the fire-breathing dragon would be me or Calvin and the mountain he has to climb is slavery, itself. But it’s a love story.
Q. What was your favorite part of the film to shoot?
A. I have some really great scenes with Kerry where I get to intimidate the hell out of [her]; some really great scenes. People really have no idea how evil Stephen is. This is like the sanitized version Quentin put on screen because I did some stuff that’s really nasty.
Django Unchained is out on Blu-ray & DVD on 20th May from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. You can also win a copy, right here!
