AARP The Magazine EXCLUSIVE: Samuel L. Jackson on Aging, Facing His Past, and His Compassionate Side

WASHINGTON—Samuel L. Jackson, winner of an Honorary Academy Award and a BAFTA award, is best known for his numerous acting and producing credits. However, in the October/November 2024 issue of AARP The Magazine (ATM), Jackson, 75, discussed his life beyond his career, including his health, his generosity, and his ancestry.

Jackson had been surrounded by adversity growing up, from living in segregated Tennessee to being expelled from Morehouse College after joining a student radical group who held members the board of trustees captive. The actor discussed in ATM another piece of his past involving the discovery of his Gabonese ancestry, his long-time marriage to LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and recently working with actors such as Kevin Hart.

When he’s not busy with upcoming projects like Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, Samuel L. Jackson has been fine-tuning a healthy lifestyle that involves Pilates and removing pork and beef from his diet. His clean lifestyle has been in the works since his breakout role in Jungle Fever, which helped him overcome his drug and alcohol addiction. The actor also spoke with ATM about the parts of his past he still honors, such as the generous donation he gave to Morehouse College.

The following are excerpts from ATM’s October/November 2024 cover story featuring Samuel L. Jackson. The issue is available in homes starting in October and online now at www.aarp.org/magazine/.

On his past drug addiction — and his motivations for staying sober:

“My life changed significantly when I got clean. In my mind, if I pick drugs and alcohol up, all this is going away. Because that’s what kept me from getting here in the first place.”

On continuing to maintain his healthy lifestyle:

“I do pay attention to my body because I’ve had things happen to it. I have to work at being flexible and sustaining myself, making sure I’m upright and not kind of bent, you know? So I have to think about those things, and I work on them.”

On what led to his donation to Morehouse College:

“I have a different understanding of what my obligation is now. Why was I spared? Why was I given the opportunity to go from that to this? A lot of the things that LaTanya and I contribute to, or I support in other ways, are opportunities for people to get second chances like that.”

On revisiting Gabon after finding out his Gabonese heritage:

“I met the chief of the Benga tribe, and he looked just like my best friend from New York. I looked down and I saw girls that I’d had relationships with from high school or wherever, and I saw me in different places.  So it’s a deep thing to find out that you belong somewhere.”

On working with Kevin Hart in Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist:

“I watched Kevin’s rise. But one of the first things I said to Kevin when we had the initial conversation about what was going on in Fight Night, I said, ‘Every time you see me, you got to think I’m going to kill you.’”

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About AARP:

AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 100 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the nation’s largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/about-aarp/, www.aarp.org/español or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspañol and @AARPadvocates on social media.