Why Captain America 2 star Samuel L. Jackson is now so thin

Samuel L. Jackson has been hitting the red carpet lately while promoting his new film  ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, showcasing a sleek new physique.

The 65-year-old actor looks to be in the best shape of his life, so we had to find out his secret when talking to him about the forthcoming superhero sequel.

“It’s a new vegan diet,” Jackson explains in the video above. But is it for a particular role?

“No. Just trying to live forever. Trying to finish out my Marvel deal.”

Jackson signed an unprecedented nine-picture deal with the fledgling studio, first appearing as S.H.I.E.L.D’s Nicky Fury in 2008’s ‘Iron Man’.

[Scarlett Johansson: Black Widow movie will happen if fans want it]

Would Jackson be ready to commit to another multi-picture deal seeing as Marvel’s Kevin Feige recently said the studio wanted to ramp up to 3-4 features a year? He told us, “I got no reason not to.”

His character has appeared in six Marvel pictures to date - ‘Iron Man’, ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Thor’, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, ‘The Avengers’, and ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ - and has confirmed an appearance in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, so his deal is nearly fulfilled.

He also put in a cameo appearance in ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ on TV, but that doesn’t affect his contract.

The actor is pragmatic about his situation though, and he’s aware that Marvel could decide to recast his part.

“I’m sure they would [recast Nick Fury], why wouldn’t they? They do that all the time. All I have to do is walk into a comic book store and see someone else’s face on the cover of that thing.”

Nick Fury returns in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ which is in UK cinemas 26 March, 2014.