INTERVIEW: Jack Black

Written by: Staff Writer

Jack Black is in town to promote his new film Be Kind Rewind, directed by Michel Gondry. However, this isn’t the Jack Black we’re used to seeing. He enters the room with very blond, very short cropped hair, but despite the fact he has only just arrived from the airport, he is in buoyant mood.

So you look a little different to your character in Be Kind Rewind?

Ah the blondilocks! Well it’s for a film role, not for fashion. I’m doing a military comedy with Ben Stiller [Tropic Thunder] that’s gonna be out in June.

How did the collaboration with Michel come about?

Well this is the first time we have worked together. I think he called me because he liked School of Rock. We had one of those typical Hollywood meetings, then I saw Eternal [Sunshine of the Spotless Mind] and I was really desperate to work with him. Now it’s a ‘golden pearl’ of a friendship!

Gondry plays drums on the soundtrack, did you get to jam with him?

Did he play the drums in the movie? I did not know that! That’s something that happened in post, when I wasn’t around! He’s a real musician though, it’s true, and he’s a real jazz aficionado, as you can probably tell from the movie, there’s all kinds of jazz references and cameos.

Who cameo’d?

Er …. I don’t know! Fats Waller is referenced throughout and then were some jazz dudes! I didn’t have any scenes with any of them though.

So do the two sensibilities work, cos you rock out and he’s got the jazz thing but the two of you seem to gel?

There was some jazz-rock fusion, but not literally though, we never, like, played music together, and made a new form of music!

So what was it like working with Mos Def. How do you pronounce his name properly?

I say Mos as if you were going to say Most Definitely, but then take away the ‘T’ and the ‘efinitely’. So you get Mos Def! I’m pretty sure that’s the origin of that name.

And he answers to that?

Yeah. That’s all I called him, Mos. I don’t think that’s his real name though! I think it’s actually (pauses) Mory.

How did you find working with him? The film depends on the vibe coming from you two guys working together.

I had seen his work before. I was a fan of his stuff. I would say we did get on. Right off the bat there was a chemistry. A chemical reaction in the room and everyone was like ‘what just happened?’. It felt pretty good. In rehearsals, we gelled pretty well.

You’ve worked in a record shop, have you ever worked in a video store?I had never worked in a video store. I frequented them, frequently. I… er… like videos!

So how did Sigourney Weaver come on board? Was there ever any suggestion that she might play herself in the Ghostbusters reference? Did she get to see any of your footage?

I don’t think she did see our version of Ghostbusters. Michel might have given her a private screening. I don’t know how she got involved. I think Michel just probably called her up and as I did, she jumped at the chance to work with the boy genius. But I think she knew she was coming in to play this hard ass studio executive. The soulless B-I-ATCH!

Was there any talk of remaking other films that cast members were in? Like remaking Lethal Weapon, seeing how Danny Glover is in Be Kind Rewind.

Was it ever discussed to do a crossover? Lethal Weapon? No, I think he tried to avoid that. We didn’t re-do High Fidelity, the thing with the universe, the tear; the time fold continuum; we didn’t want that to happen. You know, that would have taken you out of the movie within the movie. That’s why we avoided Lethal Weapon 2 as well, I guess.

So were there any movies you wanted to do or was it already decided?

No, it was all Michel. I did try to force my ideas in. Let’s do Road Warrior! And he said (affects French accent) non, non. No, he wanted to do movies that struck a chord with him. Except for Driving Miss Daisy, which he did because of his friendship with Dave Chappelle. I guess Dave Chappelle hates that movie, he thinks it’s racist, horrible, and Michel was giving him a little shout out, by doing that. But I think the rest of the movies were movies that really inspired him. And Road Warrior didn’t make the list.

Presumably you had to get clearances to remake the movies within the story. Were there any you couldn’t get?

Yeah, we did have to get clearances for all the movies we ‘sweded’, that’s what Michel calls it. And we were unable to get Back to the Future. I don’t know if it was Robert Zemeckis, or who, but they said no, and I think it was because they were planning on doing a musical version of the movie on Broadway? For some ridiculous reason. I mean like our version, our take off of it, would have hurt their Broadway run? Is that true? I don’t know whether it was that, or whether they were talking about doing a Back to the Future TV series, that I guess would have been ridiculous. It’s too bad, because it was pretty darn good in rehearsal!

Were you the Christopher Lloyd character?

Yes of course, Christopher Lloyd. The crazy scientist. It was fun!

Did you ever think you might be limiting your future work prospects by taking the piss out of people?

Oh no, I was never worried about that. No. I mean, every movie I do, I’m always worried it’s going to be my last movie. Cos I’m gonna suck so bad! But there was no special worry. Yeah, would Spielberg be pissed off cos I did his movie? No. They were flattered! Jackie Chan? I’m actually doing a movie with Jackie Chan. He doesn’t seem to be angry. Maybe he doesn’t know cos it’s not out yet!

What’s the movie with Jackie Chan?

Well, we’re just doing voices. Kung Fu Panda. It doesn’t really count though does it? As an actor you don’t go, ah, his greatest work was that cartoon.

As a kid did you ever pick up a cine camera or video camera and make your own films?

I didn’t. I was more of a tape recorder kid. And I did funny voices and things like that. I liked to take all the cushions from the chairs and couches in the house, build a maze and force my dog to run through the maze. And I would take the sleeping bag and slide down the stairs that were carpeted. Those are some of the experiments I remember.

I also put cocoa puffs in my butt.

Why?

For comedy. Experimentation, I was a bit of a scientist.

And what did you discover?

That you can put a lot in your butt!

Is Michel very rigid as a director, or does he encourage you to improvise?

He’s one of those where he’ll tell you just enough and he doesn’t want to tell you too much because he wants you to be surprised by the things that happen during the scene. And that was pretty fun but also sometimes made you crazy. Like ‘why didn’t you tell me we were going to do that?’ (French accent) ‘Because you would ‘ave expected it. It’s good’

Do you think the film is an homage to independent cinema. Small ideas as opposed to big corporate productions?

Is the film a statement against big corporates and film making? Well it’s more of question for Michel. He may disagree with everything I’m about to say, but the feeling I got from this movie, was even in the most depressed run-down parts of the world where you wouldn’t expect beautiful creative things to happen, those are the places where they most likely WILL happen. People are relying on their imaginations, more than big budget movie funds. That wasn’t well said but it was a good question .. for Michel! Where is Michel anyway? Why isn’t he here? He’s the smart one. He has the genius, I have the haircut!

Do you feel you are like your character in any way?

Yeah, there’s a lot of me in the character. I’ve never worked in a junkyard, but I definitely feel a kinship to that kind of haphazard life that that guy lives. And I feel sometimes when I’m in this industry, making movies that I don’t really belong there, cos I’m kind of a pig pen kid in a big industry. I don’t know if he wrote it FOR me or not.

Did you have a lot of input?

I input a lot just in terms of little dialogue things, because I don’t think that Michel had any help translating his stuff, so a lot of the script was a mystery. So it would be ‘I think what he meant to say was this’.

The Lion King crops up in the movie. As a Dad yourself is it something you would watch with your kid?

I’ve not watched the Lion Kid .. the Lion Kid? The Lion KING with my son yet, no. He’s just a year-and-a-half, so doesn’t understand yet. I think some of those cartoons are too intense. No, we just throw balls and run around.

He hasn’t watched any Jack Black movies yet then?

No. None of my movies. It might freak him out!

Do you deliberately look out for interesting weird indie films or is it just what comes your way?

I look for good directors, mainly, because if you do too many of these movies where there’s not a real creative vision, you start to turn into a robot, you know, you wanna jump off a bridge. So, yeah, I’m always looking for a fresh perspective. It’s fun to tell stories if it feels original, otherwise you might as well… not.

Of the remakes in Be Kind Rewind, are there that you feel turned our better than the original?

Well the truth is, I never saw Rush Hour 2, or 1, so I don’t know if ours is better! I told Michel I have to watch Rush Hour 2, so I was ready to do that scene and he said (French accent again) ‘non’. And I said, but I don’t know what I’m recreating. And he said ‘it does not matter. Is better zis way. Do it from what you think it would be. From the commercials what you ‘ave seen,’ So that’s how we did it! We didn’t re-watch any of the films.

Be Kind Rewind is in cinemas everywhere now. Read our review here.

Lynne Malkin

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