Photographer, Post-Gazette Above: Actor Samuel L. Jackson with his character 'Frozone' in Disney's "The Incredibles." Below: Actor Samuel L. Jackson at the Comic-Con International last month in San Diego, Calif., where "Snakes on a Plane" was previewed. Photographer, Post-Gazette Click photos for larger image. Online poll Who says "cool" to you? Vote for the celebrity male or female who's got the highest cool factor.

Samuel L. Jackson is the coolest dude on the planet. And it's not just because he's starring in "Snakes on a Plane" -- that's "SoaP" to the Internet crowd that embraced the premise well before the film was released on Friday. A lot of the buzz was for Jackson and how he would deliver an expletive-laden line of dialogue. An online betting site even gave odds last week on how many times he'd utter that unfit-for-print phrase.

Now, how cool is that?

Jackson's got presence, he's got style and he's fearless about expanding his repertoire, including comedy ("The Man" with Eugene Levy") and voice work (the upcoming "Afro Samurai" animated series on Spike).

Here are six more reasons why Sam Jackson, as he started out in the biz, resides somewhere in the stratosphere that's beyond the standard Hollywood cool factor:

1. Even as a sidekick or in a small role, he has the bearing of a Jedi master (Mace Windu in the "Star Wars" series) and the presence of a superhero (voice of Frozone in "The Incredibles). Early on, he caught the eye of Spike Lee, who cast him as Mister Senor Love Daddy for "Do the Right Thing." (OK, that's three reasons right there).

2. John Travolta may have been the Comeback Kid of "Pulp Fiction," but Jackson's Jules could riff on everything from foot messages to spirituality without missing a beat. Said Jules, "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men."

3. He was heartbreakingly believable, albeit mentally unstable, as a wheelchair-bound man with brittle bones in "Unbreakable" -- which M. Night Shyamalan's has declared his fans' favorite.

4. He looks great in a beret and a long, flowy overcoat, and he can pull off a purple suit.

5. When it came time to update "Shaft," who else could play him?

6. He dares to follow "Snakes on a Plane" with next year's "Black Snake Moon," a Southern drama that explores issues of race, religion and psychology as Jackson's bluesman takes to Christina Ricci's love-starved abuse victim.