Samuel L. Jackson was typically a hero, onscreen and off, but a couple of recent turns have cast that designation (speaking in terms of the former) aside. After his genuinely haunting performance in Django Unchained, the actor will next take a villainous position in Spike Lee‘s Oldboy — this may not turn out well for that character, either — and afterward, it’s now told, is causing trouble for Colin Firth. (The distinction between onscreen and offscreen behavior should, again, be emphasized.)
Variety tell us he’s been locked for The Secret Service, a Matthew Vaughn-directed adaptation of the Mark Millar comic, as backed by 20th Century Fox. Firth and newcomer Taran Egerton will, respectively, play Uncle Jack and Gary, the former of whom begins training his punk nephew to be an MI6 agent when a number of sci-fi actors are kidnapped and a whole town’s population is wiped out. Jackson‘s character is the man behind the madness, a fine choice that, on top of everything else, paves way for a more-than-likely joke regarding the actor’s involvement in Star Wars — which is slightly appropriate, since Mark Hamill had made a cameo of sorts in the comic and is expected to “reprise” that role for Vaughn. The previously pursued Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise couldn’t exactly make that same gag, either.
No matter the direction in which all that goes — and once they cast a female lead; Emma Watson and Bella Heathcote are both rumored for that job — The Secret Service will kick off production this fall.
Is Jackson a choice that ignites interest in Vaughn’s project?