Samuel L. Jackson believes he should have won an Oscar for an important scene that was removed from the 1996 film “A Time to Kill.”
The movie was based on the novel by John Grisham and also starred Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey, and Ashley Judd.
Jackson played Carl Lee Hailey, who shot two racist white men after they raped his 10-year-old daughter, lynched her, and left her for dead in a small Mississippi town. Hailey shot both men at the courthouse after fearing they would get off for their vicious crimes, and Jackson believes it was some of his best work.
During an interview with Vulture, the Emmy-winning actor and father revealed that one of his most impressive scenes was cut from the film.
“In ‘A Time to Kill’, when I kill those guys, I kill them because my daughter needs to know that those guys are not on the planet anymore and they will never hurt her again — that I will do anything to protect her,” he recalled, adding that the editing process left out crucial scenes about the character.
“And it looked like I killed those dudes and then planned every move to make sure that I was going to get away with it. When I saw it, I was sitting there like, What the f—k?”
Jackson went on to say that he could have won an Oscar for his performance.
“But also the things they took out kept me from getting an Oscar. Really, motherf—kers? You just took that s—t from me?” he said.
The 74-year-old remembers performing a speech in a room with another actor on his first day of filming. Jackson said, “the whole f—king set was in tears when I finished. I was like, OK. I’m on the right page. That s—t is not in the movie!”
The beloved entertainer believes the scenes were taken out simply because he was not the star of the legal drama.
“Because it wasn’t my movie, and they weren’t trying to make me a star,” he continued. “That was one of the first times that I saw that s—t happen.”
‘The main stars of “A Time to Kill” main stars were McConaughey, who played Hailey’s lawyer, and Bullock, who played his assistant.
One of the most dramatic scenes in the film is when Jackson’s character delivers the infamous line, “Yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!”
Fans reacted on social media and were surprised to learn the film could have been even more emotional.
“It was pretty emotional as it. Would have loved to see this scene,” replied one.
“Should’ve won the Oscar anyway. After watching that movie I immediately looked up who won the Oscar that year and couldn’t believe he wasn’t even nominated,” echoed another.
Actor Martin Landau, who played Ed Wood, won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Meanwhile, Jackson has received other accolades and appeared in more than 150 films, including “The Negotiator,” “Shaft,” “Django,” “Jackie Brown,” and “Coach Carter,” to name a few.
He received an Academy Award nomination for his work in “Pulp Fiction” and an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 2022.
