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

Legend to legend, this is some sage advice. Samuel L. Jackson revealed a piece of wisdom Bruce Willis shared during the filming of the 1994 action classic, Die Hard With a Vengeance.

"He told me, 'Hopefully you’ll be able to find a character that, even when you make bad movies and they don’t make any money, you can always fall back on. A character everybody loves,'" Jackson recounted to Vanity Fair in a special celebrating Willis' 70th birthday.

"He said, 'Arnold’s got the Terminator. Sylvester’s got Rocky and Rambo. I’ve got John McClane.' I’m like, 'Oh, okay.' It didn’t hit me until I landed the Nick Fury role – a nine-picture deal, no less – that, 'Oh, I’m doing exactly what Bruce said. I’ve got my character now.'"

Last year, Jackson humorously reflected on his nine-film contract, wondering if he'd live long enough to complete it. He was also surprised by the speed of Marvel's production.

"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 do I gotta stay alive to make nine movies?'" he told GQ in September 2024.

"It’s not the fastest process, and people don’t usually do it that way, so I didn’t realize they were going to make nine movies in about two-and-a-half years. That’s pretty crazy. I was like, 'Oh shoot, I'm burning through this contract!' But it all worked out."