“I’m pretty sure the first time Sam cursed me out was in the audition,” Jessie T. Usher, who plays Shaft Jr. in the upcoming Shaft remake, recalled.
When you’re a young, hungry actor and screenwriter Kenya Barris works it out so you get to play an instant iconic role next to legends such as Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree, you show up on set ready to work.
Perhaps Usher took that a little too literally and ended up doing the most. So much, in fact, the young actor said Jackson told the folks on set, “Where did y’all find him? This motherf-cker thinks he knows everything.”
“The Sam that you know from all his classic movies is the Sam that you meet in person,” Usher told ESSENCE.
Usher took it in stride and obviously played his position and role with expertise and enough humility to ensure Jackson’s pleasure in his performance.
And honestly, it’s quite the performance. Check out the video above to hear the hilarious story of Jackson cursing out Usher before heading to the theaters to see Shaft, also starring ESSENCE Black Women In Hollywood honoree Regina Hall, out Friday.