“Those are probably my favourite three”: Jack Black once named his greatest collaborators
Actor, comedian, musician, Golden Globe nominee, Primetime Emmy winner, Grammy victor, beacon of positivity, upbeat icon, and boundlessly energetic star, Jack Black has been many things to many people over an extensive career that’s seen him worm his way into the hearts, minds, and ears of fans everywhere.
Had he followed in the family business, walked the footsteps of both his parents and become a satellite and aerospace engineer, then nobody would have been able to discover the endless charisma and signature wild-eyed mania that gradually saw Black evolve from becoming a bit-part player in Sylvester Stallone action flicks to a widely-beloved performer equally who never seems to be anything other than wildly exuberant.
Along the way he’s worked with some of the finest directors and most famous names Hollywood has to offer, with Black coming into the orbit of Tim Burton, Tony Scott, Peter Jackson, Angelina Jolie, Kevin Costner, Dwayne Johnson and many more, absolutely none of whom could ever be found with a bad word to say about him.
Although the majority of his work has comedic inclinations in one way or another, when Black singled out the three most memorable creative collaborators of his career in an interview with 34th Street, it was a trio of talents more known for their dramatic tendencies who ended up emerging at the top of the pile.
High Fidelity‘s Stephen Frears was named as “my favourite director probably,” with their partnership leading to one of Black’s best-ever performances. Known for Dangerous Liaisons, Dirty Pretty Things, The Queen, and Philomena, Frears even managed to get the nod over a filmmaker Black has worked with on multiple occasions.
He teamed with Academy Award-winner Richard Linklater on School of Rock, Bernie, and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood, but despite their trio yielding one of Black’s most popular hits, a biting jet-black satirical comedy, and an acclaimed coming-of-age animated dramedy, that still wasn’t enough to see him dislodge Frears from the top of the pile.
Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins has been known to dabble in directing on occasion, with Black making his feature-length debut in 1992’s satirical mockumentary Bob Roberts, before playing a small supporting part in 1995’s Dead Man Walking, and taking third billing behind Hank Azaria and Bob Balaban in 1999’s historical drama Cradle Will Rock.
Robbins hasn’t directed a movie since, but having “worked with him on all the movies he directed,” The Shawshank Redemption star still takes the final spot on Black’s list of his most memorable partners. Bad news for Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass, then, or maybe the other half of the musical duo was maintaining an air of diplomacy be restricting his candidates exclusively to those who were wielding the megaphone.