Jackson is the hitman, and a key witness in a case to bring down a despot.
Salma Hayek plays the wife of Jacksons character.
We were invited to chat to the pair at a swanky hotel in London.
And let me tell you: walking into a room with that much star-power in it is very nerve-wracking.
Jackson was sat at a table and Hayek was laid out on a sofa nearby.
I shambled in and awkwardly worked out where I was meant to sit.
(It was at the table with Jackson, if you were wondering.)
Both stars were smartly dressed, cheery and funny.
Heres how the chat went…
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So, were here to talk aboutThe Hitmans Bodyguard.
I wonder if we could start with how you both came into it?
I know its been gestating since as far back as 2011.
See you know more about that than I do.
SLJ:I had no idea that it had been gesticulating that long.
Um, I dont know.
Somebody called me and said that theyre doing this great movie.
Ryan Reynolds was attached to it.
And they hadnt told me about you [Salma Hayek] yet.
SH:No, I think I was called last minute.
And I read it, and its like, oh, this is kinda funny.
SH:Kind of written for you.
And, um, I like action movies.
Its like, great!
But they never told me, oh but youre not gonna see her.
At least I get to see her, for a while.
So, yeah, it was a combination of great things.
So how far do you go back in real life?
SLJ:I see her, I just see her at awards shows backstage.
Its like, Im gonna damage her if I touch her.
I always liked you!
SLJ:Yeah, I know.
SH:I always wanted to work with him.
The scene with you two meeting for the first time is probably my favourite bit of the whole film.
[Very spoiler-free, that.]
Its the kinda girl you wanna meet, right?
SH:You wanna know whats my favourite one?
The last time you see us together.
Were you actually talking to each other in scenes like that?
SLJ:That very seldom happens.
When youre doing phone conversations, youre very seldom actually speaking to the other actor.
Sometimes, they have a recording.
SH:He was so nice.
But I didnt want to bother him.
I was nervous, you know?
It was first my scene.
What if I dont do it right?
Im going to be so embarrassed that hes there!
And they had the recording, so I used the recording.
When we didJackie Brown… interesting story…
I was off one night.
And my phone rings at four in the morning.
And its Quentin [Tarantino, obviously].
And hes like, Hey, you have to work.
And I was like I have to come to work?
Im like, yeah [And Tarantinos like], Well, he wont do it with me.
Hell only do it with you.
Im like, So I have to come in and talk to him?
So I was on the phone from like four in the morning til six.
SH:What about, like… did you know your lines?
SLJ:I always know a script by the time weve started shooting.
SH:Was it kind of fun?
SLJ:… No.
[Lots of laughter] Woke me up from a dead sleep.
Quentin going [affects a high pitched voice] Cut cut cut!
Okay, we have to do another set up because theres a close-up!
Im like, But you have me on tape now, dont you?
[And Tarantino goes,] No no no, he wants to talk to you on the phone.
SLJ:Dude would not let me hang up.
SH:And you know what?
The truth is that, I heard what he did once.
It kind of stayed in my head, you know?
SLJ:Oh, good.
SH:It kind of stayed in my head every take.
Both you have a fair bit of action to do in this film.
And obviously youve both done fight choreography and shooting people and stuff before.
Did either of you have to learn anything new for this one?
I had always done my stunts.
SLJ:[Quiet laughter to himself]
SH:Which is not true, at all.
But thats what I thought.
But Roberts crazy, he always wants to do everything himself.
If he couldve, he wouldve been doing my stunts too.
He has just way too much energy.
And, so, [he said] it makes you look bad if you dont do it.
So they brainwashed me, and I always did my stunts.
I really regretted it, because I have two herniated discs, a dislocated…
I have so many health problems now because of all those stunts.
And, I said I was so stupid.
Of course, now that Im older and wiser, I said Im not doing this.
Im not doing those stunts.
And it just made me feel old.
I felt so in decay.
And I actually did them.
I was so happy that night when I went home, I went, YES!
Ive still got it!
SLJ:And I was at the bar like, Go Salma go!
Recovery time is not what it used to be.
SH:Its like drinking.
SH:You know, before I used to like drink and the next morning like nothing.
Continue…
No, its great!
SLJ:[Hearty cackle]
SH:Like the geeks want to know about my drinking problems.
SLJ:Of course they do!
SLJ: Yeah, man.
Was there a guy like hiding underneath actually driving it or something?
How did it work?
SH:[Laughs]
I just mean, you know, its a pretty dangerous thing!
SLJ:They took me to the reservoir in Shepperton, and I did speedboat lessons.
SLJ:You know, I drove around in a speedboat.
And the great thing about the speedboat is: the faster it goes, the safer it is.
You know, if its slow, its like sitting in the water like that.
[Holds hand out at angle.]
I have to do it.
And I did, it you know.
I did videos of me and people behind me, screaming and yelling and talking.
SH:I wonder how long its going to be before you get yourself one.
[This comment was aimed at SLJ, not me, obviously.]
SLJ:Im not buying a speedboat.
SH:Well see.
SLJ:I dont need one.
There are certain things that you dont need any more.
SH:But not the speedboat.
You cant speed on the Porsche, but you could actually speed on the speedboat.
SLJ:Yeah but I dont.
SLJ:Id rather be on a bigger boat.
I dont need the speed.
I dont need the boat.
With comedies, you hear a lot in interviews about how much improvisation people did.
SLJ:Well those things you cant change.
Everybody knows what direction everyones going, and it looks like spontaneity, but it needs to be planned.
I like a plan.
I am totally down with that.
I hate working with those actors that mumble.
[At this point Jackson does some very quiet faux-mumbling.]
And you have to kind of watch their mouths, and go…
SH:Is it time yet?
SLJ:Is it time for me to speak yet?
Youre over there like, [confused face], What the hell is he doing?
Did either of you have any ad-libbed or improvised bits that made it into this one in the end?
Yes, just because I was by myself most of the time.
And then, actually, they asked me…
I dont remember even why.
But there were things that were not like he planned it, and we had to improvise.
SLJ:There was probably some comedy gold in there somewhere.
SH:Yeah, Im sure.
One thing that I was going to ask about.
At one point, Ryan Reynolds drops in the line about your character singlehandedly ruining the word motherfucker.
SLJ:I wasnt there for that.
So, thats a Ryan question.
But it probably was.
It does sound like an adlib.
That plays more on me as a human being than as [the character] Darius Kincaid.
And did you take it personally when you saw that?
SLJ:No, of course not.
I thought it was hilarious.
Because most people say I glorify the word.
Thats the first time Ive heard someone say Ive ruined it.
SH:[Laughs] Ill tell you what was fascinating for me.
We had to do the dubbing version for television.
And the whole time I was thinking, Oh my god, what did Sam do?
What did Sam say?
What did Sam do?!
SLJ:I never take a stab at make sense of that.
I dont care, you know.
So when I have to replace motherfucking with something, I always say something stupid like monkey fighter.
Me and SH:[Laugh]
SLJ:So people will know.
Yeah, they just replaced it.
SH:Yeah, thats dubbed.
SLJ:Yeah, causeSnakes On A Plane.
The whole thing is, he says, These monkey fighting snakes on this monkey fighting plane!
Everybody knows what Imsaying.
So why should I try and make sense of it, you know?
My friend, Ive done that.
Things that sound like M-F. My friend.
Just to see what you say.
SLJ:The longest time Ive ever spent replacing TV words wasPulp Fiction.
SH:[To me] Can you imagine?
How long did that go on for?
SLJ:About two and a half hours.
SH:Oh my god.
Ill have to go seek out that version now.
SLJ:The sanitised TV version is horrid.
SLJ:Yeah, I just make up stupid words.
SH:Yes, thats definitely not me.
Thats a pressure that you both mightve worried about before you started.
Because youre living proof that it can be done.
it’s possible for you to make it in anything.
SLJ:Well [gestures to Hayek], shes gorgeous.
She just happens to be Mexican.
But pretty works no matter what.
SH:I want to hear about you [aimed at SLJ, obviously].
SLJ:I always…
I watched movies all my life.
And I knew who character actors are.
Something different was going to happen, than whats normally happening right now.
So I never cared about being, you know, the lead.
I just wanted to be in it.
That did something to move the story along.
So that when people left the movie they were like, But that guy was doing the thing?
So thats what you want.
[The role was there] To be a foil for Eddie Murphy.
[But] I had my own thing happening.
You knew I needed that money.
And if I didnt get it, someone was gonna get hurt.
So youd go in, and youd do something that makes you special.
You dont necessarily need to be, you know, the lead guy.
I mean, I wasnt gonna be the guy that gets the girl.
I wasnt Denzel, I wasnt… you know… Howard Rollins.
SH:But wait a minute, wait a minute.
Were you disappointed when you became the huge movie star that you are and you got all the leads?
SLJ:No no no no no.
But it was still a different thing.
I mean, all the movies Ive done, youre maybe the… somewhere between…
I doubt if Ive kissed more than six women in all the movies Ive done.
SH:Oh my god, thats shocking.
But youre so sexy, my Sam!
Well, apparently not.
Sexy me doesnt sell tickets.
Action me, killing people me, sells tickets.
Me kissing the girl does not sell tickets.
SH:Well I wouldnt know about that.
Well see after this movie!
This movie has it all.
SLJ:But youre, out of the five women Ive kissed in cinema, youre one of them.
SH:But Ive got news for you.
I had it really, really tough.
If you think that because youre pretty youre going to get the job, you are wrong.
It was really impossible.
It was really almost impossible to get a job.
SLJ:Dolores del Rio was it?
SH:In the silent movies.
SLJ:Wait a minute.
SH:And nothing until the nineties.
Maria Conchita Alonso is the only one, and she is not Mexican.
SLJ:Oh wow.
SH:They would laugh at me.
It was an impossible task.
SH:People would tell me, Go back home, youll never make it here.
They were not even into the gang member thing.
Thats how old I am.
No no no no no.
It was an impossible task.
But, here we are.
SLJ:You never wanted to be Maria inWest Side Story?
SH:I dont actually likeWest Side Story.
SLJ:But you werent Puerto Rican.
SH:And Im not Puerto Rican!
Puerto Rican is different, because they dont have the accent.
They are part of America.
SLJ:[after a bit of a stunned silence in the room] Woah!
Somebody said that out of their mouth?
SH:Oh yes, and that is not the worst thing Ive heard said.
So how did you crack it?
Keeping on being in that room?
Keep doing the auditions?
How did it happen?
SH:Um, yes.
You worked for Robert, you worked for Quentin, you worked for people who see past all that.
SH:It was tough even after I worked with them.
You have to, like, for example… he [SLJ] was going for something specific.
And you have to be excellent at something, or very ingenious.
You have to go above the norm, so you can be noticed.
And I did a whole study.
Can you show this to your advertisers?
And heres a script.
This is the story.
This is why I think this is a crossover.
This is why I know Im going to get the Latin market.
They had already said no.
He came back to me, and said, Guess what?
Well buy the time on TV.
Ill buy you the hour.
I already have so many.
And actually they didnt take the package.
They said, Oh my god, maybe theres something here.
And I had been telling them, but they didnt listen.
And you know, for them, you have to do it in a smart way.
Because, for them, they always dont want you to be right.
So it can work against you.
You have to be smart, even about how your present things.
And we had 16 million viewers the first episode ofUgly Betty.
Which is also what he [SLJ] did.
SLJ:But I also insisted to my agents, too.
That they didnt send me on roles that specifically said African American.
And you send me in there on that.
SLJ:Just put me in the room, and Ill handle the rest.
And thats what they did.
You know, I insisted on reading whatever.
SH:Oh, brilliant!
And know how to sell it.
To be your best you.
You know youre not gonna get the job.
You go in there and be your best you, because those people are gonna do something else.
And theyll go, Wow, you remember that kid that came in that read for that?
Hed be great for this.
SLJ:So I did that a lot, too.
And I got jobs from that.
Samuel L Jackson and Salma Hayek, thank you very much!
The Hitmans Bodyguardis in cinemas on Friday 18th August.
