On Sunday, June 25, Samuel L. Jackson took home the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 BET Awards.
Described as “one of the greatest actors on this God’s planet” by presenter Spike Lee, the big screen veteran thanked God, his family and close friends for all their support throughout the years.
“First I want to thank God for giving me this opportunity even in the beginning. A young man who grew up in a segregated Tennessee, nobody told me I could be this,” he shared on stage at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. “So, here I am, and here you are. Thank God for that. It’s sort of exciting, I never get nervous, and I can hear my voice shaking and it’s strange to hear myself sound that way. But it’s been a great ride getting here, as there are a couple people very instrumental in that.”
From his publicist and lawyer to Aunt Edna and his Morehouse College drama professor, the 67-year-old gave plenty of credit where credit was due. But when it came to his family, he went in for the feels, saying, “The other two people that challenged me on a regular basis are my foundation and support, my daughter, Zoe, and my wife, LaTanya; the two women that actually found me passed out on the floor after I left somebody’s bachelor party and put me in rehab the next day, and supported me and pushed me and give me a reason to get up and go and chase it day after day after day.”
In conclusion, the Washington, D.C. native thanked “everybody in here and in the world” that has “ever bought a ticket, a video, or a DVD with me in it.”
Most famous for his roles in Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction, and The Avengers franchise, Jackson has also starred in blockbusters like Jurassic Park, The Incredibles and the Star Wars reboot.
He plays the historical figure George Washington Williams in The Legend of Tarzan which is in theaters on Friday, July 1.
Meanwhile, Jackson joins Whitney Houston (2001), Prince (2010) and Lionel Richie (2014) as a BET Lifetime honoree.. Show him some congratulatory love in the comment section below.
