Samuel L. Jackson found out on “The Tonight Show” (via Uproxx) this week that he does not hold the record for most curse words said by an actor on screen. A viral Buzz Bingo survey published in May 2020 reported that Jonah Hill had said more curse words in his movies than Jackson, who is more or less royalty when it comes to cursing in films thanks to his legendary use of the word “motherfucker.” Even more surprising, Jackson ranked third on the list behind Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio.
“That’s some bullshit!” Jackson said with a laugh when finding out he didn’t hold the record. “No, no, no way! Jonah Hill and Leo? Really? I don’t believe that. Somebody has miscounted.”
Buzz Bingo surveyed over 3,500 film scripts and reported that Hill had used 376 swear words throughout his filmography, with the majority of curse words split between “Superbad” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” DiCaprio had 361 curse words, followed by Jackson with 301 curse words. Scorsese’s “The World of Wall Street,” which stars both Hill and DiCaprio, beat the likes of Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” to be named the film with the most curse words with 715 swear words. The Safdie Brothers’ Adam Sandler-starring drama “Uncut Gems” ranked second with 646 curse words.
According to the study, Hill says a curse word in “The Wolf of Wall Street” 22.9 times every 1,000 words. The survey listed Jackson’s “Jackie Brown” character Ordell as the actor’s most swearing character, but he says a curse word 6.9 times every 1,000 words in comparison to Hill. Actors who ranked behind Jackson on the list included Al Pacino, Denzel Washington, Billy Bob Thornton, Seth Rogen, Bradley Cooper and Danny McBride.
“Is it for all curse words or just one specific curse word?” Jackson asked Fallon, teasing that if the record was for saying “motherfucker” then he’d be the undisputed champ.
Jackson is currently making the press rounds in support of his new Apple TV Plus series “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.” He’s also set to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Nick Jury in the upcoming Disney Plus limited series “Secret Invasion.”