Samuel L. Jackson says an Oscar nomination isn’t an honor — a win is

Last Updated on December 2, 2024

When Martin Landau was announced as the winner of Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Ed Wood, fellow nominee Samuel L Jackson can be visibly seen mouthing a word that normally wouldn’t get by on national television (no, not that one…) And he meant it! After all, winning an Academy Award is just about the highest honor an actor can receive. Being nominated? Who needs that?

With great vengeance and furious anger, Samuel L Jackson called out anyone who says that being nominated for an Oscar is an award in and of itself. “We’ve been in the business long enough to know that, you know, the folks who go, ‘Well, it’s just an honor to be nominated.’ No it ain’t – it’s an honor to win!” He added, “You know, you get nominated, folks go, ‘Yeah, yeah, I remember that. Most people forget, you know. Generally, it’s a contest you didn’t volunteer to be in. I didn’t go in there so I could flex, like, ‘Well, wait a minute. Let me do my scene then! Hold up! Make sure you remember who I was!’ No, they nominated you and folks go, ‘What is that movie they [got] nominated for? What’s the name of that thing?’ And then after it’s over, people have a hard time remembering who even won.”

Remembering that Landau won for playing Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood might be a tough one to pull out, especially since Samuel L Jackson’s turn as Jules in Pulp Fiction arguably remains the most memorable in the category at that year’s Oscars. But even if you couldn’t remember who beat him out that year, we’re sure you could name another handful of performances that deserved a nomination – and you might be surprised to learn that he’s only ever been nominated once (although he does have an honorary statue). I’d say the snub for Best Supporting Actor for Jungle Fever is one of the biggest oversights in the category’s history – hell, Cannes even reintroduced Best Supporting Actor for him that year and they haven’t done it since!

Which un-nominated performance from Samuel L Jackson do you think deserved some Oscar love? Share your pick with us below!