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JACK BLACK on 'KING KONG'
Contributed by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor
for Radio Free Entertainment
December 1, 2005
In Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of the film classic King Kong, the team behind The Lord of the Rings pulls together all the tricks of the trade to create a spectacle of story and effects. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, the iconic beauty to King Kong's beast. An out-of-work actress in Depression-era New York, Ann meets up with fast-talking filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) and writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) and lands the lead in their latest production, a shadily financed project shot on Skull Island, a mysterious land that time forgot filled with prehistoric creatures and unspeakable dangers. It is in this perilous domain that Kong first falls under the spell of Ann, and is eventually captured and brought to New York, where he meets his tragic fate at the hands of mankind.
In this interview, Jack Black talks about the making of this motion picture epic.
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The Interview
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MEDIA: Did you take this role because it was unlike other characters you have played in the past?
JACK: No, I just wanted to party with Peter Jackson. Honestly, that was like a secret goal of mine. And it was unbelievable. I didn't think that I would be able to. I talked to my agent a few months beforehand. [exaggerated] "God, I want to be in a Peter Jackson movie! Can't you make it happen?! You're a power agent!" And she was like, "Dude, everybody wants to be in a Peter Jackson movie." And I was like, "You're right. So let's just forget it." And that he called, weirdly, and asked me to come and interview for King Kong. And yeah, I would have come and interviewed for "Turds on Ice" if he was directing it. Luckily, it was one of the most amazing parts and incredible scripts I had ever read.
Did you base your character, a con-artist director, on anyone?
Well, they had told me that they were looking for kind of a young Orson Welles type of filmmaker who is real cocky--filled with sort of a youthful exuberance and a little bit of hubris. And I was like, "So I can be like a genius?" And they were like, "Yeah, he's a genius, but he's more of a frustrated genius. He's like the unsuccessful version of Orson Welles, so he's got this chip on his shoulder, but also this hunger to be hailed as a genius."
If you could have played another role in this movie, which would it have been?
Well, I wouldn't want to go the romantic lead, because I'd be really embarrassed, and the whole time I'd be going, "Why didn't they hire Adrien Brody?" [laughs] But yeah, I'd have liked to have been King Kong. Let's face it, that's what everyone's going to see. Everyone wants to see that big ass gorilla kicking ass all over the jungle and New York. That's what I want to see.
Did you take this role to break into the blockbuster?
No. You know, this is the biggest budget movie that I've ever been on, but it's still the same job. You want to work with cool people with great minds and creativity, and Peter Jackson was just an artist that I wanted to hang out with. You want to spend time with people that you really respect, you know? It's not just the making of the movie, but just like, you're spending like a year of your life with that person. You want it to be someone [whose] company [you enjoy].
You've come quite a way since Computerman...
Well, not really. You know, I did Computerman right before I did King Kong. That wasn't like way in my past. You know how like you'll hear about a lot of actors who...they'll be out making huge movies, but "then they'll go back to their roots in the theatre to rediscover why they do it for free! The love and the passion of the game!"? I don't go to Broadway, I just go and do some like underpants videos for the internet. That's my roots!
Did your Orange County co-star Colin Hanks get cast right after you?
I'm not sure. I did not have a hand...I didn't say, [exaggerated] "Look, if you want me, you gotta cast Colin. We're a team." But I do love Colin. I was really stoked when they cast him, but I was not going to make that the "make or break."
Did having a previous working relationship with Colin help out any?
I was checking out the interesting pairings, because me and Colin had worked together and had a great time on Orange County. And Thomas Kretschmann and Adrien Brody worked so great together in The Pianist. And I was like, "What's going on here? They're bringing in the pairings." And it was good because a lot of us had a good working rapport from previous stuff. But Naomi didn't have anybody though...except for Lobo Chan, who had a very small role...They worked on something. I don't know what it was. I can't remember.
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