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He ain’t never told no lie, he ain’t never told no lie

Samuel L. Jackson Says His D’Jango Unchained Character Is Most Hated Negro In Cinema

Via Essence

Samuel L. Jackson has made a career of playing sinister characters. But none is quite as unlikeable, or controversial, as his character Stephen in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. As the Candyland plantation’s oldest and more revered slave, Stephen, as Jackson puts it, “is the power behind the throne,” who throws a wrench in Django’s plans to rescue his wife—while providing a bevy of hearty laughs at the expense of Django and company.

Peep what “Uncle Sam” had to say about his character.

ESSENCE.com: What was it like to play an evil, but extremely funny, character?

SAMUEL L. JACKSON: It’s great to have a character that has that kind of agenda. [Stephen] throws those great lines and [has those] relationships with people and has tons of conflicts. It’s great to be that.

ESSENCE.com: Did you have any hesitation about taking on the role?

JACKSON: No, Quentin called me and said he had this movie he wanted me to be in. I read the script and thought this was great. I could be as evil as I want to be and be the most hated Negro in cinematic history. I was there!

ESSENCE.com: Was there any part of you that slightly resented Stephen because he ruined things for Django?

JACKSON: No, I like all my characters. You can’t play a villain and think of yourself as a villain. It’s not the thing to do. You have to go about the business of doing what he does and being who he is. I like Stephen. I like the fact that Stephen knows who he is and he’s comfortable in the skin he’s in.

ESSENCE.com: How do you go about preparing to play a house slave, if there is a way?

JACKSON: How do you prepare? Well, you know he is. You know where he came from. You know he’s a product of his environment and he’s been there forever. He runs the plantation, he can read and write. He writes the checks. He does more than everybody knows he does. He’s essentially the power behind the thrown in the plantation. He’s got a lot of power. He’s the freest slave on the plantation. He’s not burden by any of things that all the other slaves are. He doesn’t have to go out in the fields and work. He tells people what to do. He has a position of authority. He’s authority. He’s a business man. [Laughs]

Bossip was fortunate enough to be invited to the Atlanta screening of D’Jango Unchained last week and despite the repetitive use of the N-word, we were very impressed by the film.

Again, Sam Jackson isn’t lying when he says you are going to HATE his character!

Image via D’Jango

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