Samuel L. Jackson is one of Hollywood’s most in-demand stars, appearing in the “Star Wars” and Marvel franchises, commercials and more. Yet, his latest project, the limited series “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” took 12 years to get made. Jackson talks about the new series, his career, and more in an interview with Kelefa Sanneh for “CBS Sunday Morning,” to be broadcast March 6 on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
In “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” Jackson portrays a 91-year-old man with dementia, who briefly gets his memory back. The Apple TV limited series is co-produced by Jackson and his wife, actor LaTanya Richardson, and is based on a book and screenplay by Walter Mosley.
The story is personal for Jackson, whose mother died in 2012 after suffering from dementia. He says she didn’t know who he was for the last decade of her life.
“What I would give for her to, you know, just have one hour with me to say, you know,
‘I’m really proud of what you’ve done,'” Jackson said. “Or for me to, you know, tell her that, ‘Everything that you did, you know, that you sacrificed and gave and pushed me and got me to and got me to this place,’ you know? To just, you know, thank her and love her.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Jackson talks about his early career; his work in the Marvel and “Star Wars” franchises; and his acting in the Quentin Tarantino classic, “Pulp Fiction.” He talks about the challenges of getting projects made in Hollywood even for actors with his track record of success.
“People say they wanna be in business with you, but they wanna be in business with you the way they wanna be in business with you,” Jackson said. “So, it’s still a fight in that way. … I wish that, you know, the All-Black network had as much money as, you know, Netflix to throw around. … And until they do, you have to go hat-in-hand to these other people who do have it.”
To watch a trailer for “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” click on the video player below:
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