“My best memories”: The movie Jack Black considered the highlight of his career
For a man who has been in the industry for decades, Jack Black practically has a checklist of career milestones that most people would kill for. Outside of being one of the most in-demand comic actors of his generation, his ability to spin that off into a musical career with Tenacious D is one of the greatest creative hat tricks that anyone has ever done. Although Black is no doubt proud of the ground that he covered with ‘The D’, he still felt that one of his biggest highlights was working on this lighthearted magnum opus.
At the same time, it wasn’t like Black ever saw the line between acting and playing music. Whenever he was onstage singing ‘Tribute’ or ‘Wonderboy’, he still had that same infectious energy when he was playing in Tropic Thunder or the exaggerated version of himself and Jables in The Pick of Destiny.
And if you think about it, why should both mediums be separated anyway? Both acting and rocking out are all about trying to tap into some kind of energy and capturing it on film or on video, so when it came time for Black to work on a potential movie serving as the wise teacher of rock and roll in School of Rock, the premise basically wrote itself.
Compared to most method actors who try to absorb as much of their character as possible, Black had practically been playing the role all his life and didn’t even know it. While he would probably tell you that he is far from the most accomplished guitarist in the world, watching scenes like him teaching everyone how to play ‘Smoke on the Water’ by Deep Purple is still one of the most accurate ways that anyone has captured the joy of learning music.
Throughout the film, Black is not unwilling to do his homework. Aside from begging Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on his hands and knees for the right to use ‘Immigrant Song’ in the movie, that iconic blackboard scene accurately depicts every strain of rock music over the years.
As much as Black has starred in more serious roles and even bigger franchises since then, he will always hold School of Rock as one of his creative pinnacles, telling Entertainment Weekly, “My best memories are just that group of kids and just how funny and great they were. It’s definitely the highlight of my career, I can say that, honestly.”
And for all the lighthearted pieces of the story, it’s hard not to see the wholesome story underneath it all. Black’s Dewey Finn may not be achieving his dream of becoming the traditional rock star that he always wanted to be, but in teaching these kids the ways of rock and roll, he’s carrying on the gospel of rock that most people would have considered passe.
But the greatest strength behind School of Rock is the absolute charm that comes with it. Regardless of whether or not you think Tenacious D is all that funny or wonder why they can work with people like The Dust Brothers or Ronnie James Dio, the reason the rock and roll film angle works so well is because of how infectious his energy is whenever he straps on that Gibson SG.
