Nov. 27, 2007

Moviegoers have seen Jack Black's bottom on the big screen before, but he really lets it out in his new drama, "Margot at the Wedding."

"That was one of the things that when I read [the script], I was like, 'Really? [expletive]. Alright, I'll do it anyway despite that.' I've shown a lot of my ass in movies past but never the whole ass. Never a drama ass. This was a full moon."

All joking aside (which is difficult for Black to do during interviews), the comedic actor shows impressive acting chops as an unambitious artist engaged to the sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh) of the disapproving Margot (Nicole Kidman). Black, who is clearly talented enough to have been offered serious roles before, says he sticks mostly to comedies because, "I'm not going to get paid to do drama any time soon. I do it for the love of the game. In this case, it was the director. I really wanted to work with Noah [Baumbach]. I really loved 'The Squid and the Whale.' I'll do some more movies for free if they're good, too. So consider yourself duly warned."

Still sporting a blond dye job he received for a role in Ben Stiller's action comedy "Tropic Thunder," Black is in the middle of a short holiday break before beginning Harold Ramis' "Year One" with Michael Cera. In January, audiences will find his return to the safe confines of comedy in Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind." The unconventional comedy finds Black mistakenly demagnetizing all the films in video store run by his buddy (Mos Def). To keep the store's only paying client in the fold, the duo stages recreations of some old favorites with less-than-stellar production values. Black says his favorite remakes were "Ghostbusters," "Rush Hour," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Robocop." And, as expected, the new versions all have Gondry's trademark touch.

"Basically car fenders for my legs. A blow dryer for the gun and holster," Black says of his "Robocop" costume. "[Gondry's] brilliant in many ways, and he thought of all of it. My character works in a junkyard, and so all of the stuff was kind of built with junkyard parts."

Although the trailer has been received well in theaters, Black isn't sure Gondry's vision will necessarily be an unconventional commercial hit like "Nacho Libre" was.

"He has a very interesting way of shooting scenes and not a ton of coverage and also some things fall to the wayside," Black says. "Just straight up plot and story are not always the most important thing to him as much as a feeling or an amazing image."

Black pauses for a moment and then adds, "Very creative and original doesn't always translate to big box-office gold."

Well, kudos to Black and gang for continuing to try.

"Margot at the Wedding" is now playing in limited release.

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