Jack Blackoften plays characters that allow him to flash his skills in physical comedy while showing off his range as a musician. Despite arguably being typecast as a slacker, Black is anything but. He has already made more than 80 movies in his career and is still going strong at just 52 years old. He has tremendous range, putting out the typical lewd comedies, a few romances, some that tug on the heart strings, and a handful of memorable family movies. All this, while consistently putting out albums alongside fellow actorKyle Gassand their band, Tenacious D.
With the recent announcement that Black will be reprising his role as Po fromKung Fu Pandain a new Netflix television series, what better time to look back on the most iconic roles of Black’s career? These are his eight best performances.
8. Miles inThe Holiday(2006)
For any hardcore fan of Black’s metal-infused comedy rock, his role inThe Holidayis a bit disorienting. Although it wasn’t a huge hit, Black stole the show as Miles, the sweet and sensitive composer, despite not being as big of a star at the time as his co-stars,Kate Winslet,Jude Law, andCameron Diaz. He’s still funny and charming as always, creating tremendous chemistry on-screen with Iris (Winslet), a London native visiting Los Angeles on vacation. But it’s a notable departure from the majority of the movies Black had made by the timeThe Holidaywas released in 2006.
7. Barry inHigh Fidelity(2000)
AlthoughHigh Fidelityhad an all-star cast, toutingJohn Cusack,Joan Cusack,Tim Robbins,Catherine Zeta-Jonesand more, it was also one of Jack Black’s breakout film roles. He is perfect as Barry Judd, the record store employee and music snob. What really makes him stand out is the scene in which his band, Barry Jive and the Uptown Five, plays “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye while Black belts out the all the right notes.High Fidelitywasn’t his first movie, but it’s otherwise notable as his first big performance singing on the big screen.
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6. Jerry inBe Kind Rewind(2008)
Black had a big year in 2008, at a time when he was truly developing into a big movie star. But it’s not the hit comedyTropic Thunderthat makes the list, although it does deserve an honorable mention. Instead, it’s Black’s performance as Jerry in the under-the-radarBe Kind Rewind. An unfortunate accident causes Jerry to accidentally erase all the videotapes at the movie store where his friend Mike (Mos Def) works. The pair go about recording new versions of classic movies, and the quirky cast of neighborhood characters absolutely love the hilariously low-budget films.Be Kind Rewindis a sappy, optimistic story about a community rallying to save a floundering business. Black is the standout, however, despite strong performances from Mos Def andDanny Glover.
5. J.D. inSaving Silverman(2001)
Saving Silvermanis an early-2000s comedy aimed at a very specific demographic, falling into the same genre asAmerican PieandNational Lampoon’s Van Wilder. The plot ages poorly, as the entire movie hinges on Wayne (Steve Zahn) and J.D. (Black) kidnapping Judith (Amanda Peet), the emotionally abusive fiancée of their friend, Darren (Jason Biggs). That said, there are still a lot of laughs inSaving Silverman, and there’s even an appearance by musicianNeil Diamondas himself. It’s another goofy performance for Black as J.D., who struggles with discovering that he’s gay midway through the film. The actor gets to shine briefly on the screen as a musician, in addition to showing off his comedic talents.
4. Nacho inNacho Libre(2006)
Although its success was understated at the time,Nacho Librehas built a cult following as one of Jack Black’s most popular movies. He stars as Ignacio, or Nacho, a monk who secretly takes up wrestling under the name Luchador to help raise money to feed the orphans. There isn’t a lot else to the movie, but Black is charming and funny alongside his unlikely wrestling sidekick (Héctor Jiménez) and Sister Encarnación (Ana de la Reguera).Nacho Libreis another one of Black’s films that allows him the freedom to be his goofy self, but also adds a lot of heart in the story.
3. JB inTenacious D in the Pick of Destiny(2006)
Black teams up on the big screen inTenacious D in the Pick of Destinywith his bandmate, Kyle Gass, performing a fictional history of their band,Tenacious D. He plays JB, who teams up with Kyle to go on a quest to steal a legendary guitar pick made from one of Satan’s teeth, cryptically named the Pick of Destiny. Black and Gass perform together numerous times throughout the film, turningPick of Destinyinto a vehicle for their album of the same name. But there’s also plenty of bromance fun, as well as a hilarious drug-trip scene where JB consumes mushrooms in the woods.
2. Dewey inSchool of Rock(2003)
For all the comedies in Black’s portfolio of films, both raunchy and otherwise, he has done a reasonable amount of heartfelt films as well. CountSchool of Rockas the best of the bunch. He plays Dewey Finn, the lazy musician — catching a theme yet? — who takes on a misguided plan pretending to be his friend, Ned (Mike White), as a substitute teacher. The result is Finn turning a classroom of misfits into a pretty awesome band, with the intention of using their success to win $10,000 in a “Battle of the Bands.” Things don’t go according to his plan, butSchool of Rockdelivers the predictable happy ending.
1. Po inKung Fu Panda(2008)
Not everything Jack Black does is family-friendly, but his most iconic role definitely is. He voices Po in DreamWorks' animated comedyKung Fu Panda. Po is a big, uncoordinated panda who serves noodles for a living but dreams of being a Kung Fu master. A set of wild circumstances result in the unqualified Po being appointed the Dragon Warrior, which understandably upsets the warriors Monkey (Jackie Chan), Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross). Po learns valuable lessons about not trying to be better than others, but the best “you” you can be. Not only didKung Fu Panda, along with its sequels and upcoming Netflix series, helped vault Jack Black to the megastar status he enjoys today, but it also earned over $600 million worldwide at the box office.
