JACK BLACK

MY LIFE IN PICTURES

Over the years he’s made us laugh as rockers, animated critters and videogame avatars. As he prepares to go full Dragon Warrior again in the fourth Kung Fu Panda movie, JACK BLACK riffs on some of his biggest hits with Total Film.

KUNG FU PANDA 4 (2024)

The DreamWorks franchise that began in 2008 gifted Black with one of his most enduring roles: kindly, kickass, black-and-white bear, Po.

‘I love kung-fu cinema so this is the only real opportunity to explore that world for me. I’ve just had a blast. When I first got the offer, [former DreamWorks CEO] Jeffrey Katzenberg liked what I did in School of Rock and was like, “I just did Shrek, and things are kickin’ ass, and I think you’d be great as this panda.” At first, I was hesitant. I was like, “I don’t know if I quite understand what the concept is.” He showed me a rough drawing of Po animated to a scene from High Fidelity. I got it in that moment. I was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.” And it’s been an incredible bucking bronco ride ever since. I guess it’s just that combination that people love; they love martial arts and when you can mix comedy with that, it has that combustible sort of combination. Jackie Chan was able to do it really well for dozens of films. Stephen Chow did that to great effect with Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. I think it’s the same kind of thing that resonates with a Kung Fu Panda audience. Do I want to do any more? It’s not up to me. I could see them going, “Oh, now there’s a bunch of baby pandas. It’s Kung Fu Pandaz – with a ‘Z’.” But I’m always down to clown. You know I’m ready to party.’

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (2017)

Another videogame-flavoured franchise offered Black hilarious bodyswap potential, playing a videogame avatar inhabited by a teen girl.

‘We were shooting one scene in the Hawaiian underbrush and there were these centipedes. They’re terrifying insects. These guys play for blood. Take a look at a close-up of a centipede’s face. It looks like Satan. We were working late into the night and everyone was on edge about these centipedes. Then we heard someone on the crew yell out in pain. He was bitten by a goddamn centipede. But we had a lot of fun when we weren’t running away from centipedes. Do you know who I hung out with the most when we weren’t filming? Karen Gillan and Nick Jonas. We were the Three Musketeers. I didn’t feel trepidation about the Robin Williams of it all. This felt like a very different direction. I didn’t think anyone was gonna say, “Hey, how dare you touch that?” I was just psyched to hit the ground running on this insane jungle adventure inside of a game with my old pal, [director/producer] Jake Kasdan. We’d had so much fun on Orange County. Sometimes you hear about the cast, and you read the script and you go, “This just feels like it’s gonna be dynamite.”’

THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (2023)

Black voiced videogame reptilian baddie Bowser in the highest-grossing film of last year.

‘I was very excited to play Bowser. It was a fun opportunity to play a villain. They’re some of the coolest, juiciest roles – that I don’t usually get to play. We really drilled down – that’s pro talk for spending weeks and weeks experimenting with different voices – until the powers that be felt like we landed on something that was perfect. [Illumination founder] Chris Meledandri has a very keen eye for detail. And that was tough, to be honest. It was like, “Oh, man, they’re not just gonna let me do whatever I want.” When we did finally get to a place where everyone agreed, then it was off to the races. But we could have gone a few different ways. I was experimenting with a few different accents. There was a British guy in there. There was a Deep Southern guy in there. We landed on the final Bowser that’s a little pinch of heavy metal God of Rock; a little pinch of professional wrestler; and a little pinch of fire-breathing dragon. They screened it for me a month before it hit theatres. I was like, “We’ve got a hit on our hands.” I’m laughing and smiling the whole way through this movie. And then it came out and it got horrible reviews. I was like, “What movie did they see?” Luckily, the world didn’t listen to Rotten Tomatoes, and it was one of the biggest hits of all time. It’s a totally different experience to [upcoming videogame movie] Minecraft. They’re both videogame related but in terms of approach, live action is a different ball of wax. I’m really excited to get back into the creative space with Jared Hess, the director. We worked together on Nacho Libre years ago. It’s been fun jamming with Jared.’

TROPIC THUNDER (2008)

Alongside ‘Frat Pack’ stablemate Ben Stiller, Black went meta as a comedy actor working on a Vietnam movie that turns dangerous.

‘The scenario was so outlandish and hilarious – this group of actors acting like soldiers and getting caught up in an actual super-dangerous military emergency – it was a no-brainer. Hard, though. Once again, we were in the terrifying jungles of Hawaii. Just hours of four-wheeling it to get to these difficult locations. But it was worth the mudslides, treacherous terrains and devilish centipedes. It was an incredible ensemble. Ben Stiller, who’s a genius, and Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey… a veritable who’s who of Hollywood. Tom Cruise was unrecognisable as Les Grossman. He was really channelling some angst, I think, about some studio executives that shall remain nameless. I just didn’t know he had that gear in him. I guess he had done some comedy but not like this, with such broad strokes. And not such a character that he totally disappeared into. It does make you wonder when he is going to bust out and do some more comedy.

If he does, he should let me know.

I’ll jump on board that choo-choo train.’

TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY (2006)

The fictional fantasy origin story for Black and Kyle Gass’ real-life rock duo.

‘My baby. The only one that I wrote. The challenge was figuring out how to take the magic of our live act, our little comedy rock’n’roll fever dream, and create a narrative that could be brought to the silver screen. We took years just thinking, “What’s it going to be?” We went through different writers, scenarios and stories, and nothing felt right. And then I realised: let’s just tell the true story of our origins. We’ll spruce it up, but at the core is an emotional truth. Even though when it first came out it was a box-office disaster, it ended up still being our proudest moment and the pinnacle of our creativity. Over the years, it’s become a hit and it’s actually made all its money back. You can tell the extent of this because when we perform all around the world, everyone knows every word of every song in that movie.’

KING KONG (2005)

In Peter Jackson’s epic remake, Black is the filmmaker out to make a monster movie on Skull Island.

‘The Lord of the Rings was my favourite trilogy of all time. I worshipped Peter Jackson, and [collaborators] Fran [Walsh] and Philippa [Boyens]. When I got the call to be in King Kong, I just accepted. Before I read the script. The character itself, the filmmaker, is based on the 1933 film. There’s nothing School of Rock-y about it. They just liked my performance in School of Rock. They liked my charisma, my flavours, and they thought that could be an exciting element to put into this story. They saw me in this world and I’m glad they did because it was one of the highlights of my life. When you’re working with Peter Jackson and he’s got something in his mind, I imagine it’s kind of like Elon Musk when Elon’s like, “I’m going to send a thousand satellites into space.” No one’s going to stop him and Peter was riding a wave of that kind of momentum off of The Lord of the Rings. He was like, “OK, so you guys fall down this treacherous ravine; now you’re surrounded by flesh-eating insects and they’re coming to eat you, so you have to defend yourself and swipe around like mad. And we’re not going to have anything here now; you’re just going to have to imagine it.” No one would do it this way because it’s just so expensive – where there’s literally thousands of moving insects that they’re going to have to do in post.’

SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003)

In the first of three collaborations with Richard Linklater, Black found a signature role as rocker-turned-reluctantsubstitute teacher Dewey Finn.

‘A lot of scenes in that movie are embedded in my mind forever. There was a day where I sang to the students and Rick Linklater, the director, was like, “I want to get this all in one take.” There’s something about that independent film spirit that he brought to the movie that made it special. You don’t see a shot like that, where you shoot a whole scene with one take, with no coverage, no over-the-shoulder shots. Just a slow pull back on me just singing this one song from beginning to end. It felt like this is the [role] that’s going to be on my tombstone. It was made for me – Mike White wrote that with me in mind. There’s something different that happens when a really good writer crafts a character for you. It’s bespoke; it fits you in a way that other projects don’t. Mike also co-wrote Nacho Libre. I don’t know why there has never been a Nacho Libre sequel but there’s something great about a project when it is just a one and only. The one-offs.’

HIGH FIDELITY (2000)

After regular TV and film work, Black broke out with a scene-stealing supporting turn in Stephen Frears’ Nick Hornby adaptation.

‘My friend, John Cusack, was like, “You would be perfect for this role, Barry, in High Fidelity.” I was hesitant because I was like, I don’t know if I want to make a movie about rock and roll, and someone who is a critic of rock and roll. I think it might hurt my rock and roll career. So, at first I passed and my agent said, “Are you fucking kidding me? Are you insane?” I was like, “You’re right. I’m insane.” It’s Stephen Frears, for Christ’s sake, who was one of my favourite directors. When it came time to finally sing at the end of the movie, I was like, “Holy shit, that’s a lot of pressure.” We did the first take and the vibe in the room was not electric. It wasn’t the big grand finale it needed to be. [Frears] came out, livid. He was yelling at the entire room [adopts British accent]: “Everyone here has to be engaged in the performance. The music is blowing your mind. Now let’s take it from the top and this time, you enjoy yourselves. OK, Jack, take it from the top. Jolly good.” I was like, “Holy shit, he really was yelling at me.” I took it as my fault they’re not enjoying it, because I’m not rocking hard enough. He said, “Action” on take two, and I just uncorked it. And that was the take that they used in the movie. Thank God I was able to reach a reservoir. That was a big money ball for me.’

KUNG FU PANDA 4 OPENS IN CINEMAS ON 28 MARCH.