After Jack Black was his usual 11 while filming A Minecraft Movie, he and Paul Rudd brought out their comedy energy for the Anaconda reboot. In each and every movie that Black stars in, his dedication to his craft never fails to make us laugh. If you can believe it, the comedic actor had a very different job before landing his big break, which he hilariously described as “my soul is being sucked.”
Plenty of celebrities had weird jobs before becoming famous. Hugh Jackman was a clown, Brad Pitt was a chicken restaurant mascot, and Ashton Kutcher was a cereal factory sweeper. As for Jack Black, he got real with Paul Rudd on Rotten Tomatoes Trailers about what job held him over before his acting career launched, and I’m surprised it didn’t work out for him:
Oh my God, this is a shameful answer. I never had a job. … I did have a job. I did one day of telemarketing, and I didn’t make one sale. And I was like, ‘I can already tell my soul is being sucked.’ And I bailed.
Paul Rudd’s spit reaction to his co-star’s first job still cracks me up! Yes, many of us have been there with the “soul-sucking” jobs before we hit the mark with our careers. But sometimes the best life stories have not-so-glamorous beginnings.
I’m honestly shocked that Jack Black had issues making sales. After all, acting is about convincing an audience that you are the character you’re portraying. With sales, you have to give just as convincing a performance to sell your product. But as sales is more structured, I can understand why it wasn’t the right job for Black.
After telemarketing didn’t work out, Jack Black certainly wasn’t going to settle for another job he wasn’t happy with. Here was the plan he came up with going forward that he stuck with:
I made a decision right then and there. [I was like,] ‘It’s show business or bust. I’m going all in on acting and music and, if I can’t do it, I’ll just live at my mom’s.’ … I had no plan B, no back-up.
That sounds like a born performer. While parents may recommend a backup career as a safety net against a competitive industry, the Shallow Hal star clearly couldn’t see himself doing anything other than acting or music. I give aspiring artists a lot of credit for their dedication to their dreams, no matter how tough they are.
Fortunately for Jack Black, his dedication to his dreams of being an actor paid off. He landed his first acting job, appearing in the TV commercial for the video game Pitfall!. The Tenacious D member’s career went further with a small cameo in the Tim Robbins movie Bob Roberts.
After many small roles, Paul Rudd actually got the credit for launching Jack Black’s career. After his own audition didn’t work out for High Fidelity, the Ant-Man actor recommended Stephen Frears to cast Black in his rom-com. The aspiring actor’s film debut ended up being one of his best movies, along with School of Rock, Nacho Libre, Kung Fu Panda, and more. Good things really do come to those who wait.
Telemarketing may not have been the best fit for Jack Black. No worries, as he went on to become the highly prolific actor/musician we know today. Make sure to see Black wow audiences once again with the 2025 movie release of Anaconda in theaters now.
