As Mace Windu, Sam Jackson had the Force on his side. Not that he needed it.

Deep Blue Sea: These guys don't know it, but a super smart shark is going to jump out of the water to eat Sam Jackson, then slide back into the water. And right in the middle of his big speech too.

As Frozone: "But we're talking about the greater good!"

He's an action star. He's a dramatic actor. He's one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. He's a bad motherf###er (or so says his wallet).

But for some reason, Samuel L. Jackson has an affinity for smaller supporting roles as well. His choices are somewhat up and down, but so too are his leading role choices.

His latest bit role is in the Hayden Christiansen teleportation flick "Jumper," which opens this week.

Here are some other notable Sam Jackson supporting turns:

Agent Augustus Gibbons, xXx: Jackson brings some legitimacy to what was supposed to be Vin Diesel's breakout role, before The Rock came to Hollywood and started taking his roles. Sam isn't quite enough to save the franchise, though, as Diesel turned down the sequel and in comes Ice Cube before the series (at least to date) flamed out.

Hold-Up Man, Coming to America: Jackson supplies Eddie Murphy's last good movie with one of its more memorable moments as a man holding up McDougal's, a McDonald's-like restaurant where Prince Akeem (Murphy) and Semmi (Arsenio Hall) take jobs. Of course, Akeem thrashes the robber in short order, which provides even more proof that movies are made up, because everyone knows Sam Jackson would break off a piece of something in a fight with Eddie Murphy.

Mace Windu, The Star Wars Prequels: Possibly the baddest Jedi this side of Yoda, Jackson is almost an afterthought in the first film, he uses his purple lightsaber to punk intergalactic badass Jango Fett in the sequel, and takes on the Emperor himself before biting the dust in true Jedi fashion in the third. The only blemish is that the prissy Anakin Skywalker (Christiansen, his co-star in "Jumper") dispatched him, though he had to deliver the Jedi equivalent of a sucker punch to do so.

Russell Franklin, Deep Blue Sea: Jackson provides the sole memorable moment in this Renny Harlin-directed shark flick, which features sharks genetically engineered to both swim backwards and be engineers, men dodging sharks underwater, and Saffron Burrows in her skivvies. His out-of-left-field death scene (during an inspirational speech, no less) is the one moment where you ignore just how implausible the whole thing is and enjoy the ride.

Lucius Best/Frozone, The Incredibles: The most unique character in one of the best films of this century, Jackson's Frozone also has one of the best conversations you'll ever see in a superhero movie, when his unseen wife decides to hide his super suit at the most inopportune time ("I am the greatest good in your life!").