Black Magic: A Conversation with Jack Black — Feb 25th 2008

By Stephen Head

In Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, Jack Black delivers the goods as Jerry, a failing video store's most devoted customer (a.k.a. loiterer). A freak accident early in the film temporarily turns Jerry into a human magnet. And upon returning to the store, which rents only VHS cassettes, he inadvertently erases the entire catalog. It's up to Jerry and Mike--the store's manager, played by Mos Def--to refurbish the merchandise, by videotaping their own, low-tech, personalized versions of every single movie. Propeller's Steve Head recently spoke to Black about his career, his music, and his undeniably magnetic performance in Be Kind Rewind.

Propeller: Michel Gondry said something interesting about working with you: he was intent on confusing you. Did you get a sense of that when you were working with him?

Jack Black: That son of a bitch! That's what he was doing? I didn't know that until right now! Why, I oughta....

Propeller: Were you being intentionally distracted?

Black: Sometimes I didn't know what the hell he was talking about, but I thought it was just his accent. It's so thick, like pea soup--or French onion, I should say. But yeah, before one scene he told me to get up on a jungle gym. And I was like, "What are those toys down there?" And he'd say [imitating Gondry's French accent]: "Don't worry! Go on zee jungle gym and fight for your life like you are hanging from one hundred feet high." Only later, when I saw the playback of the footage, did I get what he was talking about. Michel works in mysterious ways.

Propeller: With so much ambiguity in Michel's technique, how does anything work? It seems like the film would be a total mess.

Black: Don't let his messy appearance fool you, man. He's got a really great crew helping to bring his vision to the screen. He's got it all planned out. Yeah, it's a little haphazard at times, like a child's room, the toys are strewn about. But there's a method to the madness.

Propeller: Michel is a musician, you're a musician, Mos Def is a musician. You guys have any jam sessions?

Black: No. We never broke into a jam session. We really should have. All that music, how did we not form a band? What would we have been called?

Propeller: You'd think all you guys would talk about is music.

Black: There was some talk about Fats Waller, just because that's what the movie was about. But we didn't really jam, not that I can remember. It was a long time ago--like, a year ago.

Propeller: In Be Kind Rewind you guys create your own versions of major films. If you could create a new version of a movie that you guys didn't do, which would you pick?

Black: Hmm, I'd like to go back and do the old Jack Nicholson movies. I just love One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining. Nicholson plays the kind of guys that aren't really working in the fabric of society--he did that the best. Those are also the characters I like to play. So those would be fun to do.

Propeller: With the character Jerry, you strike a balance between likable and occasionally dastardly. Sort of meanly nice.

Black: For me I think that's key. You don't want to be Mister Goody Two-Shoes, just so that everyone likes you, because then you get into trouble. So you want to strike a balance. You don't want to be a f***ing evil dude, but you also don't want to be squeaky clean.

Propeller: Reading this script for the first time, you might find the whole thing completely puzzling. But then you see Michel Gondry's name, and it's a whole different story.

Black: First thing I do before I read a script is I ask who's directing. Always. But with Michel--if he just had a turd on a stick and wrapped it in a sweet biscuit, I'd still do it.

Propeller: It's a different kind of script, this one.

Black: He didn't have a script when he came to me. He had a homemade comic book that he drew with crayons and a couple lines of dialogue. It was a very simple story, and it just resonated with me. I was like, "Man, I can see that! Yeah! I could see this being funny and emotional!" It was a good idea.

Propeller: Did they ever consider having the characters remake one of your own movies?

Black: No. I mean, there's King Kong, but we did the old version.

Propeller: Did you know Mos Def at all before you started working on Be Kind Rewind?

Black: I did know Mos Def, but I'd never worked with him before. We did have a shared passion for music and a shared sense of humor. We felt that same things were funny. We hit it off right away when we were rehearsing, everything seemed to fit together well.

Propeller: You two have very different styles.

Black: Complementary. Because he's very real, and his acting style is relaxed. He doesn't rush anything. Whereas my stuff tends to be a little bit more explosive and ridiculous. So together we made a good ying and yang--Laurel and Hardy, as it were.

Propeller: I see you got a military haircut for your last film.

Black: Yeah, it was for a role that I'm done with. It's kind of a military comedy called Tropic Thunder.

Propeller: What's your part?

Black: I play a Chris Farley-esque actor going who's going for a more serious role. He's been doing a lot of fart comedies and now he's going for the Oscar. And he's going out to make this movie, a Vietnam war film.

Propeller: Is that something you would like to do--make a transition from comedies to more serious drama?

Black: Me, I'm just trying to keep it going. I like making movies and I'm not really picky as to the genre. I'll make a drama if there's something interesting out there.

Propeller: You're starting yet another film, Year One, this month. What's your role there?

Black: I'm just a guy in biblical times wandering though the Old Testament stories.

Propeller: Finally, is there any news on the Tenacious D front?

Black: We've been writing. We've got a new song called "Death Star," and hopefully George Lucas will not sue us. But it's so good! Now we just need to write, like, thirteen more songs to go with "Death Star." So I'm thinking it's going to come out in the Tens: 2010 or 2011. Maybe 2019. Somewhere in the Tens, anyway.

Tags: Be Kind Rewind, Jack Black, Michel Gondry

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