Sometimes you should take your friends advice.

In a Vanity Fair story honoring Bruce Willis 70th birthday, Samuel L. Jackson reflected on the advice his Die Hard With a Vengeance co-star Willis gave him while they were shooting the film in the 90s.

He told me, Hopefully youll be able to find a character that, when you make bad movies and they dont make any money, you can always go back to this character everybody loves,' Jackson remembers. He said, Arnolds gotTerminator.Sylvesters gotRocky, Rambo.Ive got John McClane. Jackson recalled thinking Oh, OK, at the time, and it wasnt until later when he landed a role in the MCU that he understood. It didnt occur to me until I got that Nick Fury role and I had a nine-picture deal to be Nick Fury that, oh, Im doing what Bruce said. Ive got this character now, he said.

The Oscar winners first time in Marvel was in 2008s Iron Man, in its post-credit scene. He then was a key castmember in over 10 films over the years as Avengers boss, Fury. The Hateful Eight, The Incredibles, Django Unchained and 2000s Unbreakable, where he teamed back up with Willis, are only a few of the successful films out of his now 150-plus film career. His movies have earned over $14 billion at the box office.

In a 2019 cover story with The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson said he took a break from shooting the Die Hard film to attend the world premiere ofPulp Fiction at Cannes. This movies OK, butDie Hards going to change your life. This movies not going to change your life, he recalled thinking. Yet, both films did.