Even before The Matrix was released in 1999, Laurence Fishburne was an accomplished actor. However, the sci-fi film took him to new heights. He could perhaps have achieved this 5 years earlier.
Quentin Tarantino considered Fishburne for one of the leading roles in his cult film Pulp Fiction. After Fishburne’s rejection, Samuel L. Jackson took over the role of Jules Winnfield. Jackson has now appeared in six of the director’s films. That Fishburne turned down the role However, he doesn’t seem to have any regrets.
Laurence Fishburne had a personal reason for not appearing in Pulp Fiction
In a 2020 interview with Vulture, Laurence Fishburne spoke about his career and the decisions he has made. He mentioned Pulp Fiction. Although Tarantino wrote the character Jules Winnfield for Fishburne to perform, the role was not suitable for him. When asked by the interviewer, the actor revealed his reasons:
I just had a problem with the way heroin use was handled. I just felt like it was a little carefree and it was a little too casual for me. I felt like it made heroin use seem attractive. For me it’s not just my figure that’s important. It’s about the question: ‘What does it all say?’
Fishburne chooses his roles with help his personal moral compass out of. One scene that he disliked so much that he used it as an example was the adrenaline injection. In the scene, Uma Thurman’s character Mia Wallace suffers a heroin overdose. The character was saved because John Travolta’s Vincent Vega pushed a syringe of adrenaline into her heart.
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To this day, Fishburne stands by his decision to turn down the role. Likewise, he has not accepted other roles from successful films. If he had, his career might have been different. But even without these roles, he is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.