Samuel L. Jackson is an extremely prolific actor. He’s a Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino regular, an MCU staple, and even a Star Wars alum. And that’s not to mention the dozens of films he’s popped up in across all genres. But what do you think of when you hear the name Samuel L. Jackson? Nick Fury, in recent years. Maybe even Pulp Fiction. But let’s be real, swearing definitely sits near the top of the list. He’s just a brilliant, famously sweary actor.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to promote his new show The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey the host mentioned on-screen swearing. More specifically, a list he found breaking down who has sworn the most on-screen. And to our befuddlement, Jackson only ranks third.
Don’t worry, he’s just as confused as we are. According to Fallon’s source Jonah Hill tops the list, uttering 376 swears throughout his filmography. Leonardo DiCaprio picks up second place with 361. And Jackson takes the bronze with just 301 swears.
Obviously, Jackson calls “bullsh*t” on this one. For starters, he had a few follow-up questions Fallon was not prepared to answer. Specifically, whether these are swears across the board or a particular swear word. The Tonight Show host admitted if they were talking about the mother of all curse words, there’s no question Jackson comes out on top. On that note, what even counts as a swear? There are a few unkind words—language your mom doesn’t want in the house—that don’t quite reach the official swear threshold. I’d love some clarification on these parameters.
Obviously, rankings like this are easily outdated, given how specific they are. Hill, DiCaprio, Jackson, and the others making up the list are all working actors. So we must add a margin of error to the list. Still, to be quite honest, 376 as the top number seems low. To be fair, Superbad and The Wolf of Wall Street alone probably launched Hill to the top. (Superbad alone has 219 instances of f***, which pales in comparison to The Wolf of Wall Street‘s whopping 569.) DiCaprio probably got The Wolf of Wall Street bump as well.
Maybe if Kevin Feige let Nick Fury run his mouth a little bit from time to time—I think the Avengers would benefit from Fury calling them out on their sh*t from time to time—he’d take the cake. (The little blipped “motherf***er” doesn’t count since it was technically censored. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.) Certainly something to think about for Secret Invasion. If Vincent D’Onofrio can take a guy’s head off with a car door in Daredevil, coming soon to Disney+, I think we can let Nick Fury throw out a f*** or two. (Or mishmash of colorful language because this is Phase Four, baby. It’s time to let loose!)
Samuel L. Jackson has a reputation to maintain. And I bet he can reach 400 swears and take the crown.
