HOLLYWOOD -- There's one of those guttural, go-ahead-make-my-day lines in The Negotiator that should firmly establish Samuel L. Jackson in quoteable Hollywood history.
"I'm not going to jail today," growls his character, Danny Roman, a revered hostage negotiator for the Chicago police department, who is framed for embezzlement and the murder of his partner.
During a recent L.A. screening of the film, Jackson's teeth-gritting delivery of that vow drew wild cheers from the audience.
"Oh no," says Jackson, laughing when told of the frenzied reaction. "I can see that's going to become my next airport catch-phrase."
Until now, he explains, "people in airports usually yell out to me, 'Hey Sam! Know what they call a quarter-pounder with cheese in France?' " Jackson says, mimicking his infamous Pulp Fiction exchange with John Travolta.
"Or worse," the actor continues of his Fiction fanatics, "they'll say, 'Sign my wallet, you bad motherf--er!' "
Unlike the bad you-know-what he's played in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and A Time To Kill, Jackson doesn't look so bad in person as he bounds into the hotel suite wearing navy shorts, a golf cap, a wide grin and a salt-and-pepper goatee.
But on screen in The Negotiator, the lines between good and bad are blurry in the psychological drama.
Based on a true incident where a negotiator turned tables and took his own hostages in exchange for a chance to clear his name, the film was originally to star Sylvester Stallone, until the action star insisted on major script changes including adding a girl love interest (he wanted Rene Zellwegger in the Kevin Spacey role of a fellow negotiator) and a drugged-out son for added flair.
Then came along the laid-back duo of Jackson and Spacey, who had worked together in A Time To Kill.
"We knew we wanted to do something together after A Time To Kill," says Jackson, "and I ran into him the night before he won the Oscar, and asked, 'Did you read The Negotiator? Are you gonna do it?' And he said, `I'll do it if you do it.' "
Which is as good a deal in Hollywood as scribbling a contract on a cocktail napkin at Spago.
Before the $45-million, 70-day, all-night shoots in Chicago --where for one scene 30 downtown blocks had to be shut down -- Jackson consulted with real life, on-the-edge negotiators.
"I played golf with a few of them," he says. "You spend four hours on a golf course with a bunch of guys, and you'll find out what they're about."
Director F. Gary Gray delved a tad deeper than teeing off by actually riding alongside the Chicago bomb and arson squad, finding "a new-found respect for police," says the director.
"All day long on the radio, we'd hear, 'Shots fired, shots fired, shots fired,' " says Gray.
The resulting mood of the film is a mixture of new experiences and old movies.
"If there was one movie I watched to get a feel from," says Gray, "it was Dog Day Afternoon."
One triumphant scene, worthy of any Al Pacino tirade, is Jackson's two-day shoot balancing on the window edge of a Windy City highrise, damning and daring his enemies to shoot him point blank.
"I was bolted to the floor on the 22nd floor, the windows were out, there were 'copters right in my face, and the wind was blowing," says Jackson, who thankfully has a hankering for heights.
"I'm a real rollercoaster fan," he says. The up-and-down "twisty" plot, as Gray describes it, was a ride for the rest of the cast, too.
"We made constant changes," says Gray. "Kevin and J.T. (Walsh, who plays a slimy police inspector) questioned every plot point and every conspiracy angle, making sure it was airtight. No rock was left unturned."
For Jackson's part, he came up with one of several plot twists organically.
Frustrated and searching for ways to make Walsh's character confess his crimes, "I got angry, pulled out J.T.'s chair, and everybody was going: 'What are you doing?' " says Jackson.
"Then it was like, 'Ahhhh! That's the way it could happen.' It was just one of many things that popped up that way."
When not working out plot points, Jackson takes it easy on set.
He's not one of those actors who fret in the corner, getting into character.
"I have one of those interesting jobs where if I go to work and go to sleep, everyone's happy," he says. " 'Where's Sam?' `He's in his trailer, sleeping.' 'Oh good!' " he says, clapping his hands together. "They just want to know where I am."
"Acting is one of those things I've always been able to do," he says matter-of- factly.
So he doesn't understand the latest trend to put non-actors in front of the camera.
"That whole 'Look at me!' syndrome," he says, grimacing. "Everyone you talk to, from sports figures to millionaire jocks, want to be on screen. I have no conception of what that is. It's not for everybody, yet everybody thinks they can do it."
Up next for the natural talent is the umpteenth Star Wars sequel, about which he is sworn to secrecy.
"I got a letter yesterday saying, 'Don't talk (to the press)!' " he says, smiling. "You'll have to buy Star Wars magazine to find out anything."
Shooting next month in Mexico is Deep Blue Sea, about genetically enhanced sharks who gain the intelligence of dolphins, in which Jackson plays a billionaire philanthropist.
"Hollywood is calling it Jurassic Shark," laughs the actor. "I don't know if my character gets 'sharked' or not."
If so, he's looking forward to it.
"I've never had a good limb-tearing death on screen before."
THE SAMUEL L. JACKSON FILE
ON A PULP FICTION SEQUEL: "If Quentin (Tarantino) writes it and it's in the spirit of the first one, that would be great."
On negotiating with his daughter at home: "We don't negotiate. We just tell her, 'Get off the phone!' "
On the death of co-star j.t. walsh: "He was a great talent and a great person, very dedicated."
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