B.L. What I love about Samuel L. Jackson movies is every time I see you, I never know what you're going to look like or what your character will be. Where did McElroy come from in Formula 51 and how did you get that look?
S.J. Interestingly enough the character description in the script called for a big bald black guy with a kilt and golf bag. We just decided that braids would be a lot more interesting. It's just a different look, and the kilt was always there.

B.L. What did it feel like the very first time you put the kilt on?
S.J. It was like something that I had worn all of my life. I got it on; it felt very comfortable; I started walking around in it and the pleats swayed right. The costumer said to me that there's a way that you'll know how you're supposed to wear this or not. When I walked away from her she said, ‘you're born to wear a kilt.'

B.L. So are we going to see you at premieres wearing one?
S.J. I don't have enough of them. I don't want people to see me in the same kilt all the time.

B.L. Inquiring minds want to know... did you wear anything under your kilt?
S.J. I can't divulge too many secrets in this interview, but let's just say that sometimes in postproduction we had to shade things in. (laughing).

B.L. Moving on, you got to work with Robert Carlyle in this movie. That had to be a lot of fun.
S.J. It was awesome. When he came over for the first meeting after we approached him about doing the film, I was sitting in the room and he came in and we made eye contact. He just gave me this huge grin. We knew immediately that it was going to be great. We spent a lot of time in a car together just hanging around. Bobby is an extremely intelligent and wise man about Scottish history and he has an interesting sense of humor. He's hard to understand when he's not on camera. He talks a lot plainer when he's working than when he's not. You're kind of like, what?, when he's talking to you. But he's a great guy.

B.L. You guys looked like you had a lot of fun.
S.J. We had an awesome amount of fun doing this film. I think that's one of the reasons people are going to enjoy it. Just because we had a great time and everybody who came into the film brought a lot of enthusiasm and had a great time. Ronny Yu [the director] had a great time; and Mr. Poon, the cinematographer, had a great time. It was like one big, joyous thing where we had lots of laughs. I think when you have positive experiences like that it directly transfers to an audience when they watch them.

B.L. This is a script that had been kicking around for many years. You've been attached to it for something like seven years. What was it about the script that intrigued you to not only star but also take on the role of executive producer?
S.J. I kind of like to think that if somebody sees my name and they want to do the film they'll do it. I've since found out that's not necessarily true! (laughs). But, nobody else was around to do that so, between my manager and I, when we got the script, we were the first two people who decided we wanted to so it aside from the writer.

B.L. You recently reunited with your Pulp Fiction co-star John Travolta to make the film, Basic. What was that like for you guys?
S.J. John and I have this big love fest going on so when we see each other. It's kind of like we saw each other yesterday and we just pick up where we left off. It's that kind of thing with us. So it was a joy to be back with him; I wish we just had more to do together.

B.L. In Formula 51, your character carries around a bag of golf clubs for the entire film. Being an avid golfer that must have made you very happy.
S.J. You got that right.

B.L. You also use a golf club as a weapon in one scene. Was it easier swinging that around than the light saber in Star Wars?
S.J. Well I had just come from Star Wars so it was just doing it in another way. I had these things in my mind that I wanted to do from these Samurai films I had seen and Ronny being Ronny said do what you want, swing them. But I didn't realize until we started doing it that we didn't have any foam rubber safety clubs. We were using real golf clubs and the stuntman went no, that's OK. So we used real golf clubs until I bashed one of the stuntmen in the head and we kept that shot in the film, so it worked really well.

B.L. What's in your future? Do you ever think about directing?
S.J. No, I don't think that's a natural outgrowth of what I do. Directing's a lot of work. Unlike most actors who think, OK, now I'll direct, I actually like going to work and hanging out in my trailer and watching TV, reading books and talking on the phone.

B.L. How do I get a gig like that?
S.J. I'll get you an agent!