From The X-Files to cuddly Po in Kung Fu Panda 3, the weird and wonderful rise of Jack Black...
1) His real name ain’t Jack
But ‘Black’ is his real surname. He was born Thomas Jacob Black on 28 August 1969 in Santa Monica, California.
2) His parents both worked on the Hubble Space Telescope
Yep, both of Black’s parents were brainboxes who worked on Hubble, the uber-powerful telescope launched in 1980 which has helped scientists see deeper into space than ever before.
3) He’s 5’ 6”
The same height as Daniel Radcliffe, Elijah Wood and Woody Allen. That makes him taller than Dustin Hoffman, Peter Dinklage and a standard garden gnome.
4) His pal Tim Robbins got him his first movie role
While studying at the University of California, he palled up with future Shawshank Redemption star Tim Robbins. As a result, Robbins gave Black a small role in his first film as director, the mockumentary Bob Roberts in 1992.
5) He appeared in an early episode of
The X-Files
A hippy-haired Jack Black turned up with Ted’s Giovanni Ribisi in a third season episode of The X-Files titled D.P.O in 1995. How young does he look?!
6) It took a while before his big break in Hollywood
Jack was rarely out of work in the 1990s. He managed to nab himself small roles in Demolition Man, Waterworld, The Fan, The Cable Guy, Mars Attacks!, Dead Man Walking, The Jackal, Enemy of the State and True Romance (though he was cut from the final edit with that one). But it wasn’t until his scene-stealing turn as the manic music snob Barry Judd in the movie version of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity that Jack got his big movie break.
7) He’s also a rock star
Jack Black actually has two careers – acting (of course) and his other job as the lead singer of heavy rock band Tenacious D which he formed in 1994 with long-time friend Kyle Gass. It even boasts Dave Grohl as an unofficial member (he’s played drums on all three of the band’s albums) and they’ve supported such acts as Metallica, The Who and Foo Fighters.
8) He’s not just about the comedy
JB is not only one of our favourite comedy stars, but he’s shown his dramatic side in numerous movies, proving he’s not a one-trick pony. His most critically acclaimed performance of recent years came in the 2011 drama, Bernie, where he played true life convicted murdered Bernie Tiede, a role for which he was nominated for numerous Best Actor awards.
9) He’s changed from party animal to family man
After spending much of his early years hitting the party scene, Black eventually settled down in 2006 to cellist Tanya Haden, one of three triplets born to jazz bassist Charlie Haden. They’d both known each other at high school and bumped into each years later at a friend's birthday party. They have two boys, Sammy, 9, and Thomas, 7.
10) Po holds a special place in his heart
The Kung Fu Panda movies are the only sequels that Jack Black has ever worked on. Which is lucky, as Po is, he says, his favourite role!
Kung Fu Panda 3 arrives at Cineworld on 11th March.
