Last month I took part in the “Lakeview Terrace” press day in Santa Monica, Ca. This was the first junket I have participated in where the press day and the release date were so far apart, so it’s been a little surreal driving around L.A., seeing all the posters with Samuel L. Jackson peering out behind sunglasses from the window of a police cruiser, thinking to myself, “That’s not out yet?” Alas, the film’s arrival is finally immanent, and the world finally gets to see my epic showdown with Samuel L. Jackson (and by epic showdown I mean three minutes of glory).

“Lakeview Terrace” poses the question, “What could be safer than living next to a cop?” From the film’s trailer, you can probably gather that the answer is “lots of things”, and Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa (Kerry Washington) learn that the hard way. These newlyweds move into a quiet LA suburb, and end up with the neighbor from hell. Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson) is an LAPD officer with a mean streak and a strong sense of moral superiority, and he objects to several things about Chris and Lisa’s behavior and relationship. What starts as sitcom-fodder type neighborly disputes escalates far beyond anyone’s control, and the wildfires that are starting to consume the nearby landscapes metaphorically threaten to consume them all.

I spoke to Mr. L. Jackson about getting involved in the part, and why he was so drawn to Abel. Though it is easy to pigeonhole Abel as the villain, Jackson believes that Abel just has a different perspective, and he hopes some people in the audience will identify with Abel. We also talked about “Inglorious Bastards”, and he says the only conversation he and Tarentino had about the film was whether or not he knew any black French actors, because there is only one black guy in the movie. As for “The Avengers”, he didn’t know whether or not he’d be playing Nick Fury, but he hopes they call him when it comes up (like they won’t).

I only had three minutes, so there’s not a whole lot of meat to the interview, but I can still say I sat down with Samuel L. Jackson, which by proximity makes us best friends.