Samuel L. Jackson Reveals the Advice Bruce Willis Gave Him During Die Hard — and He Finally Realized It With That 9-Movie Deal to Play Nick Fury in the MCU

In a fascinating revelation, Samuel L. Jackson shared a piece of sage advice he received from Bruce Willis while they were filming the 1994 action blockbuster, Die Hard With a Vengeance. Willis advised Jackson, "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." This gem of wisdom was shared with Vanity Fair in a special tribute to Willis on his 70th birthday.

Willis went on to explain his point by citing examples from other action icons: "Arnold [Schwarzenegger]'s got Terminator. Sylvester [Stallone]'s got Rocky and Rambo. I’ve got John McClane." Jackson initially didn't fully grasp the advice until he landed the role of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which came with a monumental nine-picture deal. He realized, "Oh, I’m doing what Bruce said. I’ve got this character now."

Jackson made his debut as Nick Fury in a post-credits scene cameo in 2008's Iron Man. He then fully embraced the role in 2010's Iron Man 2. Over the years, Jackson has portrayed Fury in a total of 10 films, three TV series, and two video games. His latest appearances include 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.

In a humorous reflection on his Marvel journey, Jackson told GQ in September 2024 about his initial concerns regarding the nine-picture deal: "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 by the rapid pace of the Marvel 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."