Samuel L. Jackson gets personal about dementia in 'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey'

Jackson stars as a 91-year-old man who reclaims his memory to solve a crime in the new TV series. NPR spoke with the actor about his new Oscar, what it means to be a legend and more.

Transcript

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The other day, I asked Samuel Jackson, one of the legends in Black Hollywood - and, well, to be clear, in Hollywood, period - what he thought about the slap.

SAMUEL L JACKSON: There was a totally different reaction in the room from the Black people who were in there than, you know, the other people who were in there.

RASCOE: (Laughter) And what was the difference? Like...

JACKSON: You know, other people get shook.

RASCOE: Essentially, he says, you know, at the cookout, things go down. This year, Samuel L. Jackson got his first ever Oscar, a lifetime achievement award. We talked over a video call about that and about his newest project, "The Last Days Of Ptolemy Grey." It's a miniseries on Apple TV+ based on the novel by Walter Mosley. Jackson plays a 91-year-old man with dementia who takes an experimental drug to briefly restore his memory and solve his nephew's murder. I asked Jackson why this story resonates with him.

JACKSON: Because of my history with Alzheimer's and everybody in my family and me having to watch it and deal with it and, you know, kind of absorb it and understand it and grapple with, you know, why is this happening, and is it going to happen to me? That's the crux of what all that was. And reading it in Walter's book was one of those kinds of revelations for me that this will be an interesting character for me to dissect and to play and possibly, you know, get rid of some of the demons in my head about, you know, what's going on and why the world would do that to all these people that I loved.

RASCOE: My big mom, my grandmother, recently - she had dementia for a long time and passed away late last year. I mean, one of the things that I know my mother talks about - like, that that is now - like, it's a huge fear - right? - of getting dementia. And so I just wonder about wanting to face it because, for me, I wouldn't want to think about dementia - right? - because it's so scary.

JACKSON: Well, I mean, I stopped thinking about it after - well, once my mom passed, she was the last one. Well, no, actually, her sister was the last one. But 12 years ago, when I first bought the book and started trying to shop it to people, it was on my mind a lot more. But as the fight to get it made continued to happen, I stopped thinking about it. And then all of a sudden there was this huge opportunity from Apple to go ahead and do it the way, you know, it should've been done.

RASCOE: Why do you think it took so long to get this made?

JACKSON: I don't know. It's a Black story about Alzheimer's. And they didn't need that content, you know? And all of a sudden, when people need content, you start telling stories, and somebody finally realized, well, it is Walter Mosley. Can we make this work?

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GRAY")

DOMINIQUE FISHBACK: (As Robyn) What are you talking about?

JACKSON: (As Ptolemy Grey) Every time Reggie said he going to clean up, he in here, he end up throwing away all my best thing - my best things.

FISHBACK: (As Robyn) Oh, yeah? Like what? Oh, come on. Don't do that.

RASCOE: What role do you see, like, family and community playing in this story? Like, it seems like Ptolemy is influenced by a lot of, like, really strong characters around him, including Robyn, the young woman who takes care of him after his nephew's death. She's played by Dominique Fishback.

JACKSON: One of the things that I used to constantly try and make people understand when we were talking about this story to the other entities that had it - because they would go, well - well, no, Robyn's not really part of his family. And I go, well, y'all don't understand the dynamic in the Black community about people that come to live in your house or people's children or cousins that come and stay there or people who die and they leave their kids and people in the neighborhood or in that community take them in, and they become your family. That was a big, you know, thing for them. Well, can't we just say she's a family member? No, that's not what the story is. The story is this person who's not part of the family comes in and cares more for him than the people who should be caring for him. Black people look at this story, and they immediately grasp what's happening and who these people are and how it works.

RASCOE: You recently received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award for your body of work. When you look over your years in the film and entertainment industry, like, what stands - oh, you got it with you. OK. I got to take a picture. Let me just take a picture.

JACKSON: It's sitting on my desk.

RASCOE: (Laughter) Very nice.

JACKSON: And it's got a lot more stuff on it than I thought, you know? It's like, what? What is all that?

RASCOE: (Laughter) What stands out the most to you about your career? Like, at a moment like that, you got to be thinking about the scope of your career.

JACKSON: Not really.

RASCOE: Not really? Really?

JACKSON: Well, I mean, I thought about the scope of my career for a long time. And, you know, when I go back and think about all the things that I've done and, you know, remember them or specific moments that - when people say to you, oh, my God; you know you're going to get an Oscar for that, you reach a point when it doesn't happen that you kind of let it go. Or it's almost like when I was a young actor in New York or - and even an older actor, at a certain point, I was never going to come to Hollywood just to see if I could be a movie star. I wasn't coming out here until they sent for me.

When they sent for me, I was ready to be here. I was doing Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. I was - you know, I was - people - I had a great reputation for being an actor. Little did people know I was an addict and doing all the other stuff that I was doing, but, you know, I was doing the things that I needed to do to be in the right place. And when it happened, I was ready for it to happen.

I was blessed to do things like "A Time To Kill," or I was blessed to do "Jungle Fever." Gator is this iconic character that people remember. It was the first time somebody said, oh, you're going to win awards for that. "Time To Kill" comes close behind that, and it's like, boom. Oh, you're going to win awards for that. "Pulp Fiction" comes behind that, and it's like, boom. You're going to win awards for that.

And when they don't happen, you got to let it go and just go to work. You know, I'm not going to statue chase. Some of my agents would send me a script, and they would go, this is the one right here. And I go, I don't want to do that, you know? Or this one's going to be - I said, no, it's not going to be, but I'm going to have fun doing it. And y'all need to stop talking about - stop talking about Oscars and all this other stuff. You know, find out where they're going to move the comma on my check.

RASCOE: (Laughter) Well, that's a good - that's definitely a good question.

JACKSON: You know, according to the Black community or the people that watch movies, I had an Oscar a long time ago.

RASCOE: We would have thought it. (Laughter) Like - so are there things that you haven't done yet? Being that you just got the lifetime achievement award, are there things you haven't done yet that you would like to do? And are you comfortable if people call you a legend? Some people don't like to be called legends. Are you comfortable with that status that you're at? - because you're at legend status.

JACKSON: Everybody can't be a king. Everybody can't be a legend. Everybody can't be a diva. You know, legend means...

RASCOE: Yeah.

JACKSON: ...I've done some stuff that's beyond believable. I've done a whole bunch of believable stuff, things that are achievable. And hopefully, you know, kids can look at that and understand that, you know, hard work and dedication will get you to a lot of different places. You don't have to accidently fall into it and have a magic wand, you know, because that's not a magic - there's no magic. You know, luck is the perfect meeting of preparation and opportunity.

RASCOE: Yes.

JACKSON: So be prepared when the opportunity shows up, you know? - because opportunity don't knock every day.

RASCOE: Well, thank you, Samuel L. Jackson, who's now starring in "The Last Days Of Ptolemy Grey" on Apple TV+. It was a pleasure speaking with you, and I cannot wait to tell my mother and all of my family about this interview.

JACKSON: Tell your mom and them I said hey.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.