Black Star Inspiration: Samuel L Jackson and his iconic characters in frames
This month’s Black Star Inspiration is actor, producer and philanthropist Samuel L Jackson. One of the biggest names in Hollywood, his career on the big screen spans over 4 decades. He is Hollywood's highest gross paid actor. He has acted in over 100 films and at the age of 73, is showing no signs of slowing down. He has worked alongside directors such as Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino and starred in Hollywood classics such as Star Wars and Marvel movies.
Born in Washington, DC Jackson grew up in Chattanoga Teneese with his mother and maternal grandparents. He graduated from Morehouse University and was active in the Black Student Movement at the time.
Samuel L Jackson is well known for wearing frames on and off the red carpet. His signature look tends to be a pair of round frames coupled with a Kangol hat to match.
For this month's Black Star Inspiration, we’d like to highlight some of Jackson’s iconic roles on screen whose characters also included eyewear in some way, shape or form.
Do the right thing (1989)
As Señor Love Daddy, a radio DJ host in Spike Lee's 1989 film Do The Right thing, Samuel L Jackson takes to wearing his frames in the studio and instead of a kangol, he's wearing a variety of hats.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Samuel plays the character Ray Arnold in the classic Jurassic Park. His round frames complete the look for his character who is the chief engineer at the specific location. Although he didn't have much screen time in the film, the infamous line "Hold on to your butts" will be remembered forever.
Die Hard 3 with a vengeance (1995)
Jackson is featured in Die Hard 3 as Zeus Carver, an NYPD cop whose round glasses with tortoise frames (they resemble our Exstel tortoise frames don't you think?) add to detective his character. Zeus Carver is the partner to John McClane (Bruce Willis) and the two NYPD cops set out to solve bomb threats in this Die Hard film.
One Eight Seven (1997)
Jackson is the lead actor of the drama/thriller film '187' where he stars as Mr. Garfield, a teacher who was stabbed by one of his students in NYC, but moves to a school in LA that seems much worse. His black, round frames suit the signature Samuel L Jackson look.
Shaft (2000) and it’s 2019 remake
One of Jackson's more popular roles was his lead in Shaft. According to IMDb, "New York City police detective John Shaft (nephew of the original 1970s detective) goes on a personal mission to make sure the son of a real estate tycoon is brought to justice after a racially-motivated murder." There was also a remake done in 2019 starring Jackson, Richard Roundtree & Jessie T Usher where they were all styled in Shaft's iconic dark frames.
Avengers (2012)
Nick Fury, Samuel L Jackson's fictional character in Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, is a spy and founder of the Avengers. While he does not wear a pair of frames for this character, his patch serves as a form of eyewear to protect his already damaged left eye. Jackson has played this character in numerous Marvel movies such as IronMan, Spider Man: Far From Home, The Marvels and Avengers to name a few.
The Incredibles & Incredibles 2 (2004/2018)
In the exceedingly popular Pixar movies Incredibles and Incredibles 2, Samuel L Jackson is the voice of the character Lucius Best aka Frozone. His character wears a pair of protective googles over his face when he becomes the superhero Frozone. Lucius is the best friend of Mr. Incredible and is able to manipulate moisture by creating ice and freezing surfaces. He helps the Incredibles fight battles in this Pixar animated film.
Oh, before you go! We had to give a special mention to his role in Star wars as Mace Windu. In this character he doesn't wear any type of eyewear, but his purple Lightsaber and outfit reminds you a bit of our Lavender Jades, doesn't it?
*Bohten does not own the rights to any photos used in this article. All photo credits and rights belong to their respective owners*