Jack Black revealed in an interview with Capital FM that turning down Pixar’s “The Incredibles” was his biggest regret in his acting career. The comedian was offered the chance to voice the film’s villain Syndrome, but turned it down because he had never heard of director Brad Bird (at the time, his only credit was 1999’s The Iron Giant) and wanted to rewrite the script. Black now counts “The Incredibles” as one of his favorite movies.
“I was offered the role and I regret turning it down…By the way, I was offered ‘Syndrome’ for that great movie ‘The Incredibles’, which by the way is one of my favorite movies of all time,” Black said. “And I said no because I was like, ‘What,[director]Brad Bird? I’ve never heard of him!'” (I told him), “This character you’re offering me is kind of a villain, but he’s kind of one-dimensional.” I’m interested, but I’d like a rewrite. Can you add dimension to this character? And he was like, “Yeah, that’s it.” ”
“When that movie came out, I learned a valuable lesson because it was one of the best movies ever made,” Black added. “I thought, ‘Why was it so hard for me?’
“My Name Is Earl” star Jason Lee played the voice of Syndrome in “The Incredibles,” which won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature and became one of Pixar’s most iconic original films. A sequel, Incredibles 2, was released in 2018 and grossed $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office. A third film is currently in development.
Meanwhile, Black would go on to find success in his own animated films, voicing the main character in DreamWorks Animations’ Kung Fu Panda and voicing Bowser in the billion-dollar box office hit Super Mario Bros. Movie. The comedian will return as Bowser in the latter film’s sequel, “Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which opens in theaters on April 3.
Watch Black’s full interview on Capital FM in the video below.
