Samuel L. Jackson opens up about past feud with Spike Lee
nme.comSamuel L. Jackson has opened up about his 1992 feud with Spike Lee, admitting it took more than 20 years to rebuild their relationship.In a wide-ranging interview with Vulture, Jackson revealed that he and the director fell out over Malcolm X salary dispute, which ultimately led to Jackson turning down the role of Baines in the historical drama.
The part was instead played by Albert Hall.“I actually read with most of the people who auditioned for Malcolm X,” said Jackson, who had previously starred in Lee’s Jungle Fever, School Daze, and Do the Right Thing.“I was supposed to be the guy that turned Malcolm X on to Islam in prison.
I forget who played that role. But it was still down to that Spike Lee scale-plus-10 salary thing. I was like, ‘I’m not going to work for no scale-plus-10.’”The “scale plus 10” salary refers to the minimum daily or weekly pay rate for actors established by the Screen Actors Guild.
The “plus 10” is the 10 per cent of an actor’s pay that goes toward their agent.Jackson continued: “I used to call my agent every day to see if I had any auditions, callbacks, whatever.
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