You know him for “Snakes on a Plane.” You probably love him for “Pulp Fiction.” His re-telling of the classic 1970s film “Shaft” brought home the character for modern audiences. Now, Samuel L. Jackson enters a new phase of acting, foraying into unknown territory for the actor who crafted the character Glass across three films, including one of the same name, “Glass.”
Jackson just signed on to actor Chris Pratt’s latest project, “Garfield.” Pratt will play the adorable, irascible orange cartoon feline who loves lasagna. Jackson plays a new character in the comic strip, Vic, Garfield’s dad.
While the print strip has never explored Garfield’s feline parentage, the animated film will. Comic strip creator Jim Davis produces the film, and IMDB lists him as the top-billed writer for the project. The project partners Davis with three other screenplay writers for the script.
Jackson previously voiced a mockumentary project on penguins, “Farce of the Penguins,” written and directed by the late Bob Saget that also starred Alyson Hannigan of “American Pie” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fame.
The role doesn’t quite break new ground for the actor, but it may become the first voiceover role for which audiences remember him. In his 2021 project “What If?,” Jackson voiced the animated TV character, Nick Fury. He’s played the Marvel character as a long-term film role through numerous Avengers films and spinoff films.
The actor has only previously voiced a cartoon character in the film short “Tyrannosaurus Funk” and in the video game “Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.”
He’s recently transitioned to voicing animated characters while continuing to act in live-action films. While “Garfield” represents a well-known franchise, two other yet to be released animated films, both original stories, also feature Jackson voicing a character.
Jackson recently wrapped “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.” In the animated film he voices Jimbo, a samurai who takes on an unlikely student, Hank, an adorable small dog, bullied by the other dogs in his neighborhood, who wants to become a samurai himself. His other animated project, “Futha Mucka,” remains in the pre-production phase.
The animated films offer a departure from the tough-talking, kick-butt roles for which Jackson became known. Working as a voiceover actor also offers new opportunities as the venerable actor ages. Jackson, 73, has amassed 198 film and television acting credits to date.
