What was Jack Black’s first-ever movie?

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Sat 28 December 2024 20:15, UK

Everybody needs to get started somewhere. For some actors, that first credit in the filmography is something they’d rather never saw the light of day.

Uma Thurman would probably appreciate it if no one took the time to watch Kiss Daddy Goodnight, the 1987 stalker thriller with the succinct tagline, “She was cold, he was old”. Paul Newman hated The Silver Chalice so much that he paid for an advert in the newspaper that begged people to avoid it. And Sylvester Stallone would surely pay good money to hide all traces of the softcore porno The Party at Kitty and Stud’s that boasts his impressive debut. 

Then, there are the actors whose first performance is something not only to be proud of but to be guided by. Audrey Hepburn’s introduction to American filmgoers in Roman Holiday comes to mind, as does Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave.  

For most stars, however, the first film is forgettable in every way. It’s neither embarrassing nor extraordinary enough to entice viewers. Such was the case for Jack Black, whose entry into the world of feature films came in the 1992 movie Bob Roberts. As far as movies go, it isn’t a bad one. In fact, it’s pretty decent. Directed, written, and starring Tim Robbins, it’s a satire about a folk singer who decides to try his hand at politics. In other words, it was ahead of its time.

Black’s role as a tongue-tied fan of the titular megalomaniac is minor. Wearing a tie and a trenchcoat, he stammers out his lines with surprising restraint and subtle comedy. Although he’s known for his larger-than-life energy as a performer, this first performance is pitch-perfect for the screen, even though he’s in a scene with other actors talking over him. It’s a small debut but an impressive one. 

But how old was Jack Black in School of Rock?

There will be many fans who discovered Jack Black in School of Rock. Richard Linklater’s timeless comedy about an accidental substitute teacher who forms an impromptu band of repressed fourth graders is one of the best movies of the early 2000s and certainly one of the best of Black’s career. 

Released in 2003, it was a hit when it landed in theatres and has only gained in popularity ever since. Black was 34 at the time and had already been appearing in movies for a decade. Today, he has close to 200 credits to his name, but he still refers to School of Rock as the movie he’s most proud of.

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…are Jack Black and Kate Winslet friends?

One of the most unexpected roles of Black’s career was the 2006 romantic comedy The Holiday. In the film, he plays a film composer in Hollywood who falls for a visiting British newspaper columnist, played by Kate Winslet.

Black was clearly starstruck and a little stunned to be working with such an acclaimed co-star. He would later say that his first response to being offered the role was something along the lines of, “Wait, this isn’t really going to happen. Kate Winslet’s not going to want to do a movie with me. She’s going to go from Leonardo DiCaprio to Jackey McBlacketey?” 

She was, and the results were infectiously charming. Jude Law and Cameron Diaz might have had all the Hollywood glamour, but Black and Winslet had all the chemistry. They got along pretty well off-camera as well, as evidenced by the fact that Black gave his co-star a nickname that she just can’t seem to shake.

“My on-set nickname to this day is K-dub,” Winslet told Vanity Fair in 2024. “People just call me K-dub, and he started it.”

They might not have starred in any more films together, but nearly two decades after they fell in love on screen, Black and Winslet are still connected by the nickname.

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