JACK MY LIFE IN PICTURES BLACK

Over the years he's made us laugh as rockers, animated critters and videogame avatars. As he prepares to go full Dragon Warrior again in the fourth Kung Fu Panda movie, JACK BLACK riffs on some of his biggest hits with Total Film

- KIM TAYLOR-FOSTER

KUNG FU PANDA 4 (2024)

The DreamWorks franchise that began in 2008 gifted Black with one of his most enduring roles: kindly, kickass, black-and-white bear, Po. 

'I love kung-fu cinema so this is the only real opportunity to explore that world for me. I've just had a blast. When I first got the offer, [former DreamWorks CEO] Jeffrey Katzenberg liked what I did in School of Rock and was like, "I just did Shrek, and things are kickin' ass, and I think you'd be great as this panda." At first, I was hesitant. I was like, "I don't know if I quite understand what the concept is." He showed me a rough drawing of Po animated to a scene from High Fidelity. I got it in that moment. I was like, "Yeah, let's do it." And it's been an incredible bucking bronco ride ever since. I guess it's just that combination that people love; they love martial arts and when you can mix comedy with that, it has that combustible sort of combination. Jackie Chan was able to do it really well for dozens of films. Stephen Chow did that to great effect with Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. I think it's the same kind of thing that resonates with a Kung Fu Panda audience. Do I want to do any more? It's not up to me. I could see them going, "Oh, now there's a bunch of baby pandas. It's Kung Fu Pandaz - with a 'Z'." But I'm always down to clown. You know I'm ready to party.'

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (2017)

Another videogame-flavoured franchise offered Black hilarious bodyswap potential, playing a videogame avatar inhabited by a teen girl.