Samuel L. Jackson Reveals How He 'Connected' to Quentin Tarantino 'After He Didn't Cast Me in His First Movie'

Samuel L. Jackson is reflecting on the beginnings of his long and successful working relationship with director Quentin Tarantino.

While attending the Pulp Fiction 30th Anniversary presentation at the TCM Classic Film Festival Opening Night on April 18 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, the 75-year-old actor recalled to PEOPLE the moment when he and Tarantino, 61, had a conversation that would kick off a 30-year friendship and filmmaking journey between them.

"I think he knew we were connected when I saw him at Sundance after he didn't cast me in his first movie," Jackson remembered, referring to 1992's Reservoir Dogs. "I was sitting there in the audience and I'd auditioned, and I went up to him and I said, 'Hey, man. I really love the movie.' He said, 'Oh, how'd you like how he got your part?' And I was like, 'Oh, so you do remember who I am.' "

He continued, "So I told him, 'Well, your movie would be better with me in it, but what can I say?' And he said, 'Don't worry, I'm sending you something.' And that was it. And we took off from there."

Tarantino ended up casting Jackson in the role of Jules Winnfield in 1994's cult classic Pulp Fiction, and the pair went on to work together on six more of the director's films over the years, including Jackie Brown, The Hateful Eight and Django Unchained.

He said the trust that Tarantino has consistently shown him has not only pushed him to want to "work harder" for the Oscar winner but has elevated their collaborations on both sides.

"It's great to know that someone who writes that well and who makes films that well or who has a cinematic love for what we do trusts me with his material. And it makes me want to give him more and work harder for him," he said. "And I think I've become a better actor for it, and I think he's a better filmmaker for our collaborations."

And Jackson said their relationship goes beyond their work projects. "We hang out on set. We listen to music. We talk about other movies," he told PEOPLE.

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At the April 18 event — which Jackson attended together with his wife, LaTanya Richardson — the actor reunited with several of his Pulp Fiction costars, among them John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Rosanna Arquette and Eric Stoltz.

Travolta, 70, told PEOPLE on the red carpet that the movie — which features three intersecting storylines involving criminals in Los Angeles — was "planetarily epic," as he reflected on its slow burn into a pop-culture phenomenon.

“It was epic and it evolved,” he said. “The audiences made this movie what it was, and it wasn't overnight. It took about a year of evolution. In those days, movies stayed in the theaters for a year. So, by the end of the year of it being, it was planetarily epic.”

Arquette, 64, recently told PEOPLE that the cast had no idea just how big the movie would become when they were shooting scenes on set.

"At the time, we knew we were in there, rehearsing, we're working with a great director, but didn't realize how huge it would become. Which it really did," she said, crediting the "fantastic" screenplay and Tarantino's compelling writing for the movie's enduring popularity.