By BOB THOMPSON --

HOLLYWOOD -- Samuel L. Jackson is an oddity in the movie industry. He boldly says what he thinks and briefly thinks before saying it.

Honesty isn't his policy, it's his nature.

Jackson is up front about his previous career as a drug and alcohol abuser.

He even admits to a current addiction. It's called golf.

So it's not surprising that the 49-year-old Oscar-nominated actor brazenly talks about his positives as much as he reflects on his negatives.

Recently Jackson starred opposite actor icons Robert De Niro in Jackie Brown and Dustin Hoffman in Sphere, and he is working on The Negotiator with the often acclaimed Kevin Spacey.

He was amazed at his good fortune, but not in awe of the company he was keeping.

"On the set of Jackie Brown I'd hear this quiet little voice," says Jackson laughing, "and I realized it was Bobby talking to me. He's so unassuming and shy it's incredible."

Jackson is anything but. So when he heard that Goerge Lucas was casting the Star Wars prequels, he let it be known he wanted to be in the film.

"I ended up at George's ranch. He asked me if I was serious. I said, 'Yeah'."

Jackson chuckles at his temerity. "I can be goal oriented."

He also can be persuasive, even when he takes on former buddy Spike Lee, who gave Jackson his big break by casting him in Jungle Fever.

Lee complained that the word "nigger" was used too many times in Jackie Brown.

Since Jackson's hood in Jackie Brown is the character who says the n-word the most, Jackson is ready and able to defend the expression as a valid slang that evolved from racial epithet to accepted buddy-code among blacks.

"I grew up during segregation in the south," remembers the Memphis-born actor. "Nigger was definitely a rock-throwing word.

"But at some point, as we got older, 'niggah' was something you wanted to be, because you didn't want to be a negro or colored.

"That's why when you cross me I'm going to turn into a 'niggah'."

Jackson's sternly intense face breaks into a smile.

"And George Lucas didn't let me say 'niggah' once on the Star Wars set, and yeah I was mad."

Speaking of changing the subject, what's the Star Wars prequel about, anyway?

"I'll tell you," says Jackson still smiling, "but then I'll have to kill you."

Are you a good guy or bad guy? "No, no, I can't tell, but I do all of my thing with Yoda. And I can tell you he looks the same.

"Other than that, I have no idea what goes on. They only gave me pages for what I do.

"But I did get to utter the famous line, 'May the force be with you.' "

Was that fun?

"Well, let's put it this way. I had a grin when I first said it, and I had to wipe it off my face because, y'know, it is a serious thing."


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