Part of The Avengers featuring Robert Downey Jr., Famous After 40, Goodfellas with Ray Liotta, Jurassic Park with Sam Neill, Pulp Fiction with John Travolta, Star Wars with Mark Hamill, and Tarantino's Crew.
Rise to Fame
His wife and daughter found him face-down on the kitchen floor in 1991. That was the intervention. Two weeks out of rehab, Spike Lee cast him in Jungle Fever as a crack addict. He drew on everything he had. The performance got the industry's attention. He was 43. Three years later, Pulp Fiction made him a star. Jules Winnfield earned him a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination. Two decades of bit parts behind him, most of them while high. Sobriety was the career move.
In the Spotlight
He holds the Guinness record for most films over $100 million at the worldwide box office, 45 of them. His films have collectively grossed over $13 billion worldwide. Nick Fury appeared in all four Avengers films, each one a billion-dollar event. He doesn't chase awards season. He chases the call sheet. Volume is the whole strategy.
Side Notes
The stutter he had since childhood never went away. He's said at the American Institute for Stuttering gala that saying 'motherfucker' helps him reset when the stammer creeps back, whether out loud or under his breath. That's a useful detail to have when your entire screen presence is built on controlled aggression. He started at Morehouse College as a marine biology major, switched to drama after joining an acting group for extra credit. The career was an accident built on a stutter.