How Jack Black gave Maya Rudolph the start of her career: “He’s just special”
There can’t be many people who wouldn’t want Jack Black to be a guiding light in their life and careers, but Maya Rudolph is one of the select few who got to live that dream and have the exuberant actor and comedian inspire them to follow their dreams.
Like many big screen comedians before her, Rudolph got her foot in the door by joining the cast of Saturday Night Live, where she was a featured star for seven years and over 150 episodes before making the jump into feature films and episodic television, where she continued to thrive.
Whether it’s live-action, animation, movies, or TV, Rudolph has been a consistent presence on-screen for two decades in a wide array of eclectic projects, including Adam Sandler’s Grown Ups and its sequel, long-time partner Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, hit comedy Bridesmaids, Disney’s animated superhero flick Big Hero 6, and Netflix’s Big Mouth, where she won three Primetime Emmys for ‘Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance’.
As for Black, he’s been working solidly for 30 years at this point, evolving from a bit-part player in Sylvester Stallone’s Demolition Man to one of the most beloved names in the business, with his signature madcap style and wild-eyed charisma guaranteeing that he’s never too far away from stealing scenes, and that’s without even mentioning his musical side-line.
Separated in age by just three years, Rudolph and Black attended the same independent day school in California during their youth, which clearly has a habit of producing stars given that Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, and Zooey Deschanel are among fellow former alumni.
Rudolph began her performative career in the famed troupe the Groundlings, where a chance meeting with Will Forte ended up landing her the SNL gig. Before that, though, she was part of an improv competition at Crossroads, where she was partnered with Black.
“My drama teacher put us together, and he was my improv coach for an improv competition we did,” she told Drew Barrymore. “And he got me into the improv class, and he took me to my first Groundlings show, which is where I ended up.” If it wasn’t for Black, then, maybe things would have turned out differently for Rudolph, with his influence eventually blossoming into where she is today.
The actor would go on to describe the Kung Fu Panda lead as “the most inspiring,” and to nobody’s surprise, his persona is far from an act put on for the cameras. “Jack has been the same person since the day I met him,” Rudolph unsurprisingly confirmed. “The exact same person. He’s just that guy. He’s just special.” Where he gets so much energy from is anybody’s guess, but it would appear he hasn’t lost a step since his high school days.
