Q 6

PLAYBOY: Did you ever miss out on a killer movie role?

Samuel L. Jackson: I read Hotel Rwanda and couldn't figure it out. I knew it was a passion project, and I knew about the state of people in Rwanda. I didn't know if people wanted to come to the movies and see it. Don Cheadle did a fantastic job, and I'm exceedingly glad he got the Academy Award nomination and it moved his career in another kind of way. It's interesting that when a black actor gets a particular part, all of a sudden people look at him and other black actors as though they're adversaries. Nobody ever said that to Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and those guys. There are enough jobs out there for all the black actors.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: Some fans were let down by the three Star Wars flicks in which you played Jedi master Mace Windu. Did they turn out the way you'd hoped?

Samuel L. Jackson: Sure. From the time I sat in the theater and saw the first Star Wars, I'd been trying to figure out how I could fulfill a fantasy of being in a room full of things that are eight feet tall, some with one eye, some green and some with lightsabers. How can I be flying a big fast rocket ship? I was an only child, so when George Lucas put me by myself in that big green room and I had to talk to and fight against things that weren't there, it was like being an only child in my room, having a great time fighting all those things I saw at the movies.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: Not counting when you've said it on-screen, when did you last get great satisfaction from saying motherfucker?

Samuel L. Jackson: Motherfucker. So just now. [laughs] It's always satisfying, you know? It's part of my lexicon every day. I golf a lot, and people know me for it all over the golf course. If I hit a bad shot, I'll go, "Motherfucker!" and golfers who didn't even know I was there go, "All right, Sam's over there." Or if it's a great shot--pow, right on the pin--I'll go, "Yeah, motherfucker!" and they'll actually know the difference.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: Why is golf your game?

Samuel L. Jackson: Having been an only child, I'm used to taking credit for things I do. Team sports are okay, but there's always somebody to blame. Golf is the one sport that has no outside influences. The ball is sitting still. It's your responsibility to move it forward to the place you want it to go. When you put the ball in the hole, it's all because of something you did, not because somebody gave you an assist or made a block for you. You get all the credit, but you also get all the blame. It's the greatest game of personal responsibility you can have.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: Would you get a bigger kick from winning an Oscar or winning on the PGA Tour?

Samuel L. Jackson: It would give me a much greater thrill and sense of satisfaction--and make a much more lasting impression on the world--to win on the PGA. The Oscar is not a real gauge of the best performance for that particular year. Ask 80 percent of the people who watched the Oscars who won last year and they can't tell you. You make a lasting impression and get a lot more benefits winning PGA Tour events than you do winning an Oscar.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: Your screen career kicked into high gear in 1991 with Jungle Fever. You played a crackhead, a role you knew inside out from your days as an addict.

Samuel L. Jackson: There's a direct correlation between my success and being an addict. When I was doing all that shit, I didn't have shit. As soon as I stopped and did Jungle Fever as my first thing after I got clean, I started coming to lunch in Hollywood. In my mind, if I do any of that shit again, I'll go right back to what I was before, which is penniless, crazy, nasty, stinking and out of my mind. So it's easier for me to be this than it was to be that.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Do you miss cocaine?

Samuel L. Jackson: I don't miss drugs. I used to have drug dreams all the time, but I haven't had one for years. You know, the kind where you're out somewhere and you've got a big-ass softball-size ball of cocaine, everybody's getting high and you're getting high. It's really fucked up, because you're like, What if somebody sees me? You wake up the next day feeling horrible even though you only dreamed you were sneaking around. That's one sign to let you know you're not well. It sounds like bullshit when you go to AA meetings and hear, "Your addiction is doing push-ups, getting stronger every day, waiting for you to make a mistake." You're like, Shut up! But then you have a drug dream and realize, Yeah, all it takes is one little slip.