Samuel L. Jackson lost out on a Tony Award Sunday night, and he wasn’t afraid to let people know he wasn’t pleased.
The 74-year-old was nominated for August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, but when Brandon Uranowitz‘ name was called as the winner in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for his role in Leopoldstadt, Sam remained stone-faced. After a few beats, he slowly clapped.
And it wasn’t lost on viewers, either. “Imagine pretending to think that Brandon Uranowitz did a better job at acting in ANY role than Samuel L.Jackson playing in an August DAMN Wilson play! Well, the Tony Awards did just that,” one opined.
For his part, Jackson threw an elbow later in the evening when presenting the award for Best Play, introducing himself as “Samuel L. ‘it’s an honor to be nominated’ Jackson.'”
It brings to mind Jackson’s reaction to his controversial loss at the 1994 Oscars to Martin Landau in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Jackson, nominated for Pulp Fiction, was caught on camera mouthing, “S***” when Landau’s name was called for Ed Wood.
Years later, Jackson would win an honorary Oscar, but the loss still grates him. To the Sunday Times last year, he admitted, “I should have won that one.”
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