Samuel L Jackson used to be an angry young man. In 1969 he was expelled from the drama department at Atlanta's Morehouse College after taking several trustees hostage in a protest about the lack of a black studies course. Over a decade later, working as a stage and television actor, he directed that anger onto himself, becoming addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine. When he finally cleaned up his act, he put all pent-up energy to good use in a variety of tough hitting roles that have made him into one of Hollywood's finest (and coolest) actors.

Jackson's first breaks smacked of typecasting. He was Gang Member no. 2 in "Ragtime", Hold Up Man in "Coming to America", and just plain Black Guy in "Sea of Love". Even working with Martin Scorsese didn't help matters - in "GoodFellas" he was Stacks, a petty hoodlum.

Fortunately, he teamed up with Spike Lee, who gave him a variety of different roles in "School Daze", "Do the Right Thing", "Mo' Better Blues" and, most famously of all, "Jungle Fever". Jackson's role as a destitute crack addict in that 1991 film secured him an award for Best Supporting Actor at Cannes (ironically, Jackson had only just kicked his own addiction when Lee offered him the part).

The film that made Jackson a star, though, was "Pulp Fiction". His show-stopping performance as Jules, the scripture-quoting hit man, finally put him on the Hollywood A-list at the grand age of 46.

Since then, Jackson's made up for lost time, starring in over 20 feature films that include hits like "A Time to Kill", "Jackie Brown", "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace", and the upcoming "The 51st State", where he plays a kilt-wearing, golf-obsessed illegal drug chemist.

And after that performance, he's never going to be typecast again.

Learn how to be cool the Samuel L Jackson way with our handy guide.