Black Snake Moan [01:08:07] Samuel L. Jackson Gets Down and Bluesy Samuel L. Jackson is a bad motherfucker, but his character in 'Black Snake Moan' is just trying to do good ... even if that involves chaining a nymphomaniac young woman to his property. Christina Ricci plays said nympho, and Jackson is full of praise for her performance: "I don't think you've ever seen a performance braver than what Christina did. She took risks. She is walking around in that state of undress and was willing to expose her emotions so raw that it really jumps out at you ... there was a time when you couldn't show what we've shown as graphically as we do here. You couldn't even mention the term nymphomaniac." Jackson's performance as Lazarus, a religious Southern farmer and former blues man whose wife has left him for his brother, wasn't exactly a walk in the park either. As well as perfecting a uniquely stylised walk - "the weight of all that work makes you walk a certain way" - Jackson had to master the art of the blues. Surely, this must have come naturally to such a soulful performer? "Heck, no! It was very daunting. I was lucky that my teachers let me find my own way to the music ... I play other instruments, so my ear is pretty good. By the time I learned to walk across the frets and play chords, I knew I could listen to a song and pick my way and find the groove. I learned to play the songs in an odd kind of way that was just mine. When I visited guys in the Delta, I saw that most of them didn't start learning until they were past 30, and they taught themselves, so they each have their own unique style ... I got to the point of waking up each morning and picking up the guitar and learning the songs and making my own style. I never used a pick. I just used my fingers." Jackson has always had a unique way of doing things, right down to his use of the English language. As a father, does that rub off on the junior Jackson? "I never edited my speech with my daughter ... I recall hearing her when she was three, talking to her friends and saying 'fuck you.' She understood the context of different words. We took her to a wedding once and asked her about some food and she replied, 'what is that shit?'" Rohan Williams 'Black Snake Moan' opens nationally on August 2. back to top ^

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