Credo: Samuel L Jackson

'Acting is something I need to do. It's a need to be somebody else, which is freeing, and allows me to be comfortable with who I am'

I believe...

Acting is something I need to do. It's a need to be somebody else, which is freeing, and allows me to be comfortable with who I am and the things I go through.

I n my twenties I was besotted – either drunk or drugged out – but I've no regrets. Your experiences have a lot to do with shaping who you become, and some of the dark places I've been have helped inform a lot of the things I do on screen.

Some actors go through their careers and people can't name one character they played or utter one line they've said. So for me to have that [with Jules in Pulp Fiction] is great. I still get asked to do the "Ezekiel" speech at least twice a week.

I'm mundane. I accept it, I embrace it. I've played a lot of self-assured characters who wear cool things, but that has nothing to do with who I am. I don't go out; I don't dance or do all the other stuff that is part of a Hollywood lifestyle.

Every time I'm in New York, I'll go to an AA meeting; it's where I got clean. I actually went last week. I go back because there's always someone there for a first time and they can look and go, "Oh my god, I heard you used to come here." I'm just the same as the addict; still an addict.

You treat people the way you want to be treated. There's an interesting statement I once saw on the wall of a production company's office: "Be careful of the toes you step on today, because they may be connected to the ass you'll have to kiss tomorrow."

My biggest fear is I won't keep working. Everybody worries about the phone stopping ringing. Hopefully, I'll be like Michael Caine and just keep on going.

Golf is my spiritual wake-up. I'm out there every morning at 6am and done by 10am, so when the working day starts, I'm ready for whatever it brings.

Samuel L Jackson hosts the charity event 'Shooting Stars in Desert Nights' on 11 June in London. For more information: www.soujar.com