Samuel L Jackson on golf, giving and living with Fury

The Pulp Fiction star was in London for his Shooting Stars in Desert Nights charity benefit, a glittering Hurlingham Club event featuring A-listers such as Alice Cooper, Don Johnson and Luke Wilson.

With the promise of a Michelin-starred dinner and a day at the London Golf Club, he hoped to claw open some of the wallets which snapped shut like alligator jaws when the recession surfaced.

He said: "What better time than now?

"There's a greater need, and - believe me - the majority of people that give can still afford to give more.

"They're insured or impervious to a lot of what the economic crisis has thrown up. Hopefully we've reached out to some people."

While the event raised much-needed funds for the Rainbow Trust children's charity, it was also a great excuse for a trip to the links.

He said: "When I'm not working, I play every day. When I'm working I have a clause that says I can play twice a week.

"I don't like team sports that much. People mess up and everyone's blaming each other. This is one game you can play where you get all the credit or all the blame because there's no one to blame but yourself.

"I've played in pretty much every country in the world - Morocco, South Africa, North Africa, Brazil and France. When I'm in Scotland I play Carnoustie because it's hard, and I usually play Wentworth while I'm over here.

"There's no such thing as a natural golfer. As bad as you think you are there's always someone out there who's worse.

"If you go out there and just have fun, you can't beat it."

It's hardly a secret that Samuel is a big fan of the sport of colourful trousers, but it always surprises someone. Maybe that's because the Oscar-nominated actor has earned his legendary status by playing nuclear characters that would sooner use a four-iron to batter a snake or a Sith.

Marvel recently announced he will be returning as comic book general Nick Fury - a role once played by David Hasselhoff - in a deal that could feature up to nine movie projects.

He said: "That's the deal they offered me and I had to take it. I like the character and I'd like to see how he develops.

"Nick Fury was a sergeant in war comics, and he was a white guy with a little cigar. So I was shocked when I saw myself up there in that role.

"We're nearly at the end of shooting Iron Man 2 and you don't need to wait until the credits roll to see me this time.

"Hopefully by the next film, when we get to Captain America, Ant Man and The Avengers, we will have a better feel for who Nick Fury is and what SHIELD is."

Hollywood also started twittering when he snapped up the rights to the life story of Andrew Mwangura, the famed "pirate whisperer" who negotiates the release of hijacked ships from their captors around Somalia.

Andrew himself has already said he's not interested in a "Pirates of the Caribbean" spectacle, but Samuel laughs when asked how he's going to avoid turning it into an explosive turkey.

He said: "We'll see how it turns out.

"The guy that does it - he doesn't get paid, he just does it. We're trying to figure out why both parties even trust him.

"He's a very interesting character, and we want to give people some insight into what happens when people get boarded by one of those ships."

Also in the mix is Mother and Child, a tale focusing on mothers and adoption that also features Annette Bening and Naomi Watts. He also "addresses the torture issue" in Unthinkable, in which an interrogator and an FBI agent must decide how far to push to "persuade" a terrorist to give up the locations of three nuclear devices planted on US soil. Both are slated for release next year.

He was also hoping to have a go at blowing up London this year, but that's on the back-burner right now.

He signed on late in 2008 to star alongside Passion of the Christ actor Jim Caviezel in Blown, an espionage thriller that tracks an MI5 agent's bid to thwart a terrorist attack on London.

Samuel was due to play Caviezel's nemesis, businessman Julian Lezard, who leads the one-time messiah into a "high-stakes game of wit and deception".

Shooting was supposed to begin last year, but Samuel is still waiting for his chance to terrorise the city.

He said: "I'm still waiting on that. I play an arms dealer, technically.

"It's a good script. I hope they can make something happen with it."

His films have famously grossed more money at the box office than those of any other actor in history, but there's a depth to the man that goes beyond pure A-list clout.

While his mere appearance blasts a jet spray of cool onto a project, he spent years walking the bumpy road of life as a stage and screen actor on the industry's fringes.

He spent two years as a stand-in for Bill Cosby on The Cosby Show, and clawed his way through an addiction to cocaine and alcohol. He entered rehab in 1991, and poured his experiences into his career-boosting performance as a crack addict in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever.

When Pulp Fiction quotes were tearing through towns around the world, Samuel was 46. He's a classically-trained actor, but he still stresses the importance of enjoying a role.

He said: "I have to like the story and be engaged in who the character is, and what drives the story along. Also, how much fun is it going to be to actually do?"

While any movie fan worth their salt could spend all day talking movies, a good discussion about politics also lights the fire in the actor's eyes.

Samuel was heavily involved in the civil rights movement while studying at Morehouse College in Atlanta during the late-sixties. He was among the ushers as Martin Luther King Jr's funeral drew crowds to the college in 1968. Just a year later, he was taking Mr King's father hostage in protest against the lack of a black studies programme.

Mr King Snr was in the room with a group of university trustees when Samuel and other students padlocked the door and demanded the discussions they'd been denied. The "sit-in" lasted a day and a half, but Mr King Snr was ushered out earlier after complaining of chest pains.

The action led to a brief suspension, but he eventually graduated in 1972.

Samuel was a fierce advocate of Barack Obama during last year's US election campaign, and delivered a speech on the courage of Rosa Parks at the new president's inauguration concert in January.

Months later, still feels hope coursing through America after eight years of rule by "idiots".

He said: "I think Obama's America is the kind of country where the rest of the world is starting to embrace us again, as opposed to when those other idiots...those guys...were running the country before.

"He's sincere about the things he wants to do and how he wants to be perceived. Other countries see this sincerity and want him to succeed, possibly even more than a lot of people in our country.

"Number one is education. We need to make sure the kids in America are prepared to be competitive in the world market.

"For some reason being smart isn't cool. I want it to be cool again."