A Very Tenacious Jack Black

American comic actor and musician takes on kids and rock 'n roll in School of Rock

Jack Black, the hefty 5-foot-6-inch, 34-year-old actor who's played the unpredictable, crass, potty-mouthed character in Shallow Hal, High Fidelity, Orange County and Saving Silverman, may not be the kind of guy you want to leave alone with your kids.
But in Richard Linklater's School of Rock, he does exactly that. The actor and musician, who is a member of the rock group Tenacious D, plays rock guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn who is fired from his band and takes a job as a 4th grade substitute teacher at an uptight private school where his free-living lifestyle, attitude, music and antics soon influences the students to explore other sides of themselves the school doesn't encourage. Finn's real goal in taking the job is to recruit the musical prodigies to become his back-up band in a "battle of bands" contest. This would solve Finn's money problems and re-establish him as a respected rocker.
Tandem talked to Jack Black when he was in Toronto recently.

How much of this character is you?
"A lot. Actually I figured out exactly 87 per cent. (laughs) A lot is me and a lot is what I like to play, which is not necessarily me. But I really like to be intense and there's lots of good opportunities to be intensely passionate about the rock and about the secret inner meaning of rock, which is something that really appealed to me and something I could sink my teeth into. And also I had already been wanting to do something with kids. I wanted to do a TV show like a Pee Wee Herman-type show because I really missed when it was TV. That was the funniest show on TV. Not just for a kids show but, of all shows because although there's constraints put on you when you're working with kids, you can get really ridiculous in a way that isn't as appropriate for adult shows."

Were you concerned about losing the Jack Black edge being around kids?
"A little bit. I wasn't really worried about me losing my edge as much as the stigma of kids movies. If you say you're in a kids movie that automatically means nowadays you're in a crap movie 'cause all kids movies are shit except for a couple of cartoons which don't count. So I wanted to make sure that we didn't approach it tiptoeing around stuff that would normally be funny. Make it gentle-rock-a-bye-baby bullshit. Because it's not funny and I don't think kids think that it's funny either. In the olden times, in the 70s, there were some real asskickers like Bad News Bears. And I don't even think of that as a kids' movie, which it was. And Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a classic and even stuff like Meatballs, which was a Bill Murray masterpiece. These are great flicks and I was hoping to do stuff like that. You know, censorship has affected a lot of movies and I think kids movies the most because people are extra super-duper sensitive about kids. I think it's bad for kids because you might be protecting them from learning some bad words, which I don't think does much damage anyway, but you're hurting them from denying them actual funny stuff and that's doing more damage."

What was it like being surrounded by a bunch of 11-year-olds that played music better than you?
"How you do know they played better than me? It's true. Yeah, it was a little embarrassing that they were better at music. They were prodigies. That was why he [Linklater] wanted to cast kids that were really amazing. That was Rick's main goal, to get these kids that played because he likes things to be authentic and believable. You can tell when someone's playing and someone's airplaying. And it makes a big difference. But it was cool. I think kids that play music are automatically a little bit smarter, a little mellower, a little better to hang out with. Maybe that's a weird generalization but I swear there's something to that."

What were you like as a kid? Did you play music at an early age?
"I was into music. I did the obligatory year of piano and then unfortunately I bailed on that. I would have continued on but I was a little lazy. But I sang a lot. I liked to sing. When I was a kid, I thought I had a special appreciation for music but I now realize that everyone has it. Like certain songs I would just love so much they would make me cry. Now I realize I just thought I was special."
What kind of songs did that to you?
"I liked Simon and Garfunkel; it was the first album I listened to a lot. It was my mom's album. I really like the song 'Cecilia.' I don't know why that song would me cry. Then I got into Devo. I really liked the Freedom of Choice album. That was the first concert I went to, actually, my brother took me to that. I was only like 11. That was amazing."

When did you discover rock and roll?
"Later. When I was like 13. I went to the record store to get a Journey album but then there was this 18-year-old guy there and he's like 'Don't get that, man. Get this.' And he gave me the Ozzy Ozbourne Blizzard of Oz solo album. Changed my life. It was such an amazing heavy metal album. Still to this day, I love heavy metal. Now it's kind of a joke because heavy metal is a joke because of all the devil imagery."

What were you like in high school? Were you a good student?
"Uh, no. I didn't have good study habits or discipline. But, you know, early on I loved the arts: drawing, acting and music and if I applied myself I could do decent in school. And actually in the end, I made a real hard push and got into UCLA and then I dropped out of there. So that was a real waste of time actually."

Did you get into trouble as a kid?
"I did. I was in a public junior high and I got into some bad trouble. I started doing drugs and stuff when was very young. I somehow got into cocaine when I was like 15 and then I stole some money from my mom. And they put me into this school, a school for troubled teens that had like 20 students in it with a therapist, an on-campus psychologist who was also a weightlifter. If you were a troublemaker, he could like wrestle you down and give you some therapy."

Are you serious? You had a coke habit at 15?
"I did have a little bit of a habit. It wasn't like a full-on addiction but I did it at all at 15 and was kind of fucked up. I was kinda crazy. Some bad times but, um, yeah, you didn't have to go to the therapist but I did. I said I wanna have some therapy and I went in and started confessing all these crap and I started balling and crying and it felt so good and bad at the same time but finally I got that off my chest and it really helped a lot. And then I left that little school and went to another school for the arts and sciences and that was a great school."

So are you still interested in fulfilling your rock n' roll fantasy? All the chicks?
"It is. I have a girlfriend of seven years [actress Laura Kightlinger] so I don't indulge in all the fruits of the road as it were. But yeah, it's the biggest thrill going on stage with an audience that's revving us for the rock and knows your lyrics. It's a rush, man. You don't get that from movies at all."

Do you see yourself as an actor who sings?
"I think of myself as an entertainer and I have different weapons in my entertainment arsenal. I have my acting bazooka but I have my music. You don't know what I'm going to come at you with."

School of Rock is currently playing in local cinemas.

Publication Date: 2003-10-05
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3215