Samuel L. Jackson Opens Up About His Fear of Developing Alzheimer's

Samuel L. Jackson is opening up about one of his long-held fears.

The 73-year-old actor spoke with The i News about his role in the new series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, in which he plays a character who develops Alzheimer’s.

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Samuel said that the project, which was based on Walter Mosley‘s novel of the same name, was personal to him given his mother and grandfather’s experiences with the neurological disease.

“As they passed on, I just became more determined to tell this story and get it out there,” he explained. “And make sure people understand that the people they loved are still there, inside that person, so you can’t throw them away. You have to care for them and love them as if they’re still contributing to your life.”

He went on to say that he harbored fears he would suffer from Alzheimer’s like his family members. The actor is set perform in a play later this year and he shared, “I don’t know if I’m as facile as I used to be in terms of learning that much dialogue. Knowing that I can get up every day, regurgitate dialogue and do all this stuff helps me fight off the fear of genetically being caught up in everything my parents and grandparents were.”

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey follows Ptolemy, a lonely 93-year-old man suffering from dementia. He regains his memories temporarily after taking a miracle drug, which he uses as an opportunity to investigate the suspicious death of his great-nephew, Reggie.

The show is available to stream on AppleTV+, with new episodes set to be released every week. You can see the trailer here.