Samuel L. Jackson’s been an important pop culture icon for decades now with roles in franchises that have come to define mass media today. From his work on movies like Pulp Fiction, Snakes on a Plane, andStar Warsto his vocal contributions to several TV shows and even anime, he’s a celebrated actor who warrants his acclaim.
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Jackson’s never shied away from a challenging role, despite being completely new to a certain medium. you may even find him lending his iconic voice to video game characters from the several different franchises he’s associated with over the years.
7Afro Samurai
Since he was the titular voice behind the main character of the wildly successful anime Afro Samurai, it wasn’t so farfetched to assume Jackson would reprise his role forthe video gametoo. His vocal talents made the character come to life and certainly complemented the serious tone and subject matter the show had to offer.
It’s dark, gritty, and heavily inspired by the conduct of age-old samurai from the Edo era of Japan. It was quite the departure from his comedic light-hearted role on the show Boondocks. His ability to mold into the role made the show stand out and that’s exactly why Afro Samurai garnered the positive reception it did.
The game follows the same themes, for the most part. It features its own unique story that’s loosely based on the manga and the anime. Despite the changes, Jackson reprised his role to do the character justice since it wouldn’t really be Afro Samurai without him.
6Gin Rummy
Despite playing a loudmouthed trigger-happy white guy, Jackson plays this recurring character quite well. Well enough to garner some love from fans of the series. Calling The Boondocks a crass show may be a common misunderstanding since the show deals with some rather complex topics despite the comical delivery.
It’s one of Jackson’s most iconic roles as a voice actor on the little screen, and he doesn’t hold back when it comes to bringing in the wild semi-chaotic energy his character’s known for.
5Nick Fury
WhenMarvelcast Jackson to play the role of Shield’s former head honcho and founder of theAvengersinitiative, it wasn’t so sure whether the fans would be that receptive to the change, but Jackson portrayed the character well and his vibe carried the same mystique and charm as his comic book counterpart carried about him, even in the video games he’s featured in.
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Jackson played Nick Fury in Marvel’s Iron Man 2 video game, and he does a good job of emphasizing the character’s seriousness especially when it comes to dealing with the comedic antics of a character like Tony Stark. He’s played the same role in other video games like Lego Marvel’s Avengers, Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, Disney Infinity 2.0, and Disney Infinity 3.0.
4Officer Frank Tenpenny
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreasis one of the most successful games from the series and was quite possibly one of the main reasons why the PS2 was as successful as it was.Rockstar Gamesput a lot of heart and effort into the project and the scale of the open-world, and its believability made it a huge sell.
The voice acting talents of the crew working on the project were exemplary, especially when it came to Jackson’s part as the antagonist cop behind all the chaos and misery CJ had to endure through. He really sold the character off as some corrupt real-life cop with a vendetta against the protagonist.
The game mostly revolves around gang violence and culture, and despite CJ’s efforts to bring peace to Grove Street, the cops barely played a role in making sure the community was any safer. Evidently, it wasn’t that surprising to find out that they were the ones who were adding fuel to the fire the whole time.
3Himself
Believe it or not, Jackson’s actually received a voice-acting gig where he’s had to play himself. Forthe MOBA gameHeroes of Newearth, Jackson’s sweet sultry voice was included in a purchasable pack that you could get to have him narrate the events of the game.
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Despite the video game’s initial popularity and attempts and revitalizing the formulaDoTA’s gameplay was known for, it went under and the servers were shut down since it couldn’t compete with the other options on the market.
2Mace Windu
In Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars, Jackson reprised his role as the ever-popular champion of the Jedi Order Mace Windu, a character who Jackson portrayed in the original live-action movie. It’s one of his most influential roles on-screen and his character was instrumental in uncovering the conspiracy behind Palpatine’s ascent to dictatorial control over the Senate.
He even voiced the character well in the Clone Wars animated series. So, it’s no wonder that he was asked to come back and fill in as the voice for the same character when Lego decided to collaborate with the franchise and make a video-game version of the Clone Wars, where he only communicates in grunts and nods. It’s a shame Windu barely speaks in that game, since Jackson did a spectacular job at portraying such a fun character on-screen.
1Frozone
Pixar’s The Incredibles wasa huge critical successwith its portrayal of a modern superhero family trying to live life in a world where heroics are considered taboo. The voice acting cast for the movie included a whole host of talented individuals who brought the world to life with their acting.
One of the funniest and perhaps most memorable characters from the movie is Mr. Incredible’s best friend and confidante Frozone, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson. From his initial introduction to the last scene in the film, Frozone is a treat to watch on-screen and thus warranted his own cameo in the video game.
The Incredibles video game was released back in 2004 and came out around the same time the movie did. The action-adventure beat ‘em up game was a decent game with nice graphics andinteresting level design. Although Jackson’s role in the game was fairly limited, he still did a splendid job conveying the tone nonetheless.
