Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee, and more stars open up to ET in New York City about Michael Jackson.

"I just remember him as the ultimate performer," Samuel L. Jackson tells ET. "Mike was the guy that made everybody want to be better. He raised the bar for what fame became."

"I was shocked," Spike Lee says. "I just hope in closing we all just remember the joy and love of music that Michael brought to us all."

ET caught up with the actor and filmmaker at a 20th anniversary celebration of Lee's 'Do the Right Thing.' Ruby Dee and John Turturro also came out for the event.

'Do the Right Thing' originally hit theaters on June 30, 1989. The film profiled a Brooklyn neighborhood fraught with racial and ethnic tension, which came to a boiling point on the hottest day of the year.