Jackson and Tarantino have collaborated on numerous occasions
Samuel L Jackson has spoken out about a deleted scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained that was cut due to the portrayal of his character, Stephen Warren. Jackson plays Stephen, a slave loyal to the cruel plantation owner Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is known for its explicit use of racial slurs and violence, which has sparked controversy.
What scene is Samuel L Jackson talking about?
In an interview with GQ, Jackson explained that the scene in question featured a pretty strong interaction between Stephen and Django Freeman, played by Jamie Foxx. In the deleted sequence, Stephen confronts Django with physical and verbal threats, pushing Jackson’s character into even darker territory. According to Samuel L Jackson, Tarantino was concerned that the scene made Stephen too evil and feared the potential backlash it would generate for the actor. Jackson cited a particular line in which Stephen tells Django, “Do what you want to do in this room because we’re going to burn everything and throw it away anyway,” followed by a series of violent acts.
The director, while appreciating the intensity of the scene, decided to cut it out to protect Jackson from criticism. Samuel L Jackson commented, “I mean, you’re bad enough, let’s keep that s*** in the movie, people are going to hate you.” Despite Jackson’s willingness to keep the scene, Tarantino opted to take a more cautious approach by cutting it from Django Unchained.
Source: screenrant