Samuel L. Jackson has been famous for as long as I’ve been alive. He’s one of those unapologetic legends that you can’t help but love.

Learning how he got the role of Mace Windu in Star Wars made me appreciate his craft even more. While reading newspaper articles from 1999, I found an Orange County Register story about how the cast of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was starry-eyed about being in the production.

Jackson was one of those cast members. He said he always wanted to be part of the franchise, and his “game plan” to get in was smart.

“I have wanted to be in one of the Star Wars movies for 22 years, since I saw the first one,” the actor said. “…It took me all these years to figure out a way to get in.” What was the plan? To mention filmmaker and Star Wars creator George Lucas in interviews, hoping it would lead to Lucas reaching out. It did.

“I knew George was casting for the new film, so I kept telling interviewers that I would love to work with George. I said it so often that somebody told George about it, and he called me to the ranch,” Jackson added.

Although the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker told Samuel that he didn’t have much to offer, the actor said he’d be completely fine with playing a stormtrooper because this was one of his dreams.

Jackson’s dream came true by taking action

Would Lucas have reached out to Jackson if the actor hadn’t mentioned that he wanted to work together? We’ll never know, because instead of waiting, the A Time to Kill star took matters into his own hands.

From this newspaper article and Samuel L. Jackson’s interview, I learned that if you really want something enough, you’ll find a way to get it. Speaking things into existence and truly believing they’ll happen also helps make them real.

You don’t have to be an actor to create a game plan. I started writing things down and saying them out loud to stay consistent, because I needed to hear myself to believe it. I’ve been checking off goals ever since (with hard work too).

I’m going to take what Jackson did and apply it to my professional and personal life. Who knows, my best game plan could be positively life changing.

Header image credit: Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones(20th Century Fox)