Samuel L. Jackson is opening up about his run-in with the FBI.
During an extensive conversation with Rolling Stone, the 74-year-old actor spoke about a range of topics such as the ongoing writers’ strike, artificial intelligence, Donald Trump, and facing threats from the FBI. The interview began with Jackson saying he believes writers deserve proper compensation.
“I mean, the writers deserve to be paid — and deserve to be paid fairly,” he said. “That doesn’t seem to be the case. Let’s see if they can get some equity.”
The conversation then transitioned into Jackson revealing that the FBI is partially responsible for pushing him into being an actor.
As a student at Morehouse College, Jackson became heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
Due to his association with significant members of the Black Power movement, the FBI one day showed up at his home with a stern warning,
“They told my mother something bad was going to happen to me if she didn’t get me out of Atlanta in the summer of ’69,” Jackson said. “I’d already decided that I was going to be an actor at that point. I wasn’t out of the Revolution, but I wasn’t going to be the political animal that I had been. I was ready to do something else.”
He continued, “The FBI knocked on the door and talked to her face to face in Tennessee, so she came from Chattanooga to Atlanta, took me to lunch to talk to me, and then drove me to the airport, got me a ticket, and said, “Get on the plane. Do not get off the plane till you get to L.A., and I’ll tell you why.” So, I did. And she told me why. And I went to L.A. and became something else.”
