Samuel L. Jackson Shares Bruce Willis' Die Hard Advice, Realizes It After MCU's 9-Movie Nick Fury Deal

Legend to legend, Samuel L. Jackson shared a valuable piece of advice he received from Bruce Willis while filming the 1994 action blockbuster, *Die Hard With a Vengeance*. In a special feature celebrating Willis' 70th birthday, Jackson recounted Willis' insight to *Vanity Fair*: "He told me, 'Hopefully you’ll be able to find a character that, when you make bad movies and they don’t make any money, you can always go back to this character everybody loves.'" Willis illustrated his point by mentioning iconic roles like Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator, Sylvester Stallone's Rocky and Rambo, and his own John McClane. Jackson realized the wisdom in Willis' words when he landed the role of Nick Fury, securing a nine-picture deal with Marvel.

Jackson made his debut as Nick Fury in a post-credits scene in 2008's *Iron Man*. He fully embraced the role in *Iron Man 2* in 2010 and has since reprised it in 10 films, three TV series, and two video games. His latest portrayals of Nick Fury include appearances in the 2023 film *The Marvels*, the series *Secret Invasion*, and a voice role in the Season 2 finale of the animated series *Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur*.

Reflecting on his Marvel journey, Jackson humorously expressed concerns about completing his nine-film contract before his time ran out. In a September 2024 interview with *GQ*, he shared, "I knew I had a nine-picture deal when Kevin [Feige] said, 'We wanna offer you a nine-picture deal.' I was like, 'How long I gotta stay alive to make nine movies?'" He was surprised at the rapid pace of Marvel's production, noting, "It's not the quickest process in the world and people don't do it, so I didn't know they were gonna make nine movies in like two-and-a-half years. Which is kind of crazy. I was like 'Oh s—t, I'm using up my contracts!' but it worked out."