By 2004, Jack Black was already a major movie star. For many years, he was a recognizable gadfly in Hollywood, appearing in films by Tim Burton (“Mars Attacks!”) and Tim Robbins (“Bob Roberts,” “Dead Man Walking,” “Cradle Will Rock”). He played a particularly brassy character in Stephen Frear’s romantic drama “High Fidelity” and got his first leading role in the 2001 Farrelly Brothers comedy “Shallow Hal.”
In 2003, he again played the lead role in Richard Linklater’s “School of Rock”, and in 2004, he made an appearance in the hit comedy “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”. Black’s outsized personality and incredible acting skills carried him far, but he also had the wisdom and good fortune to work with many notable directors. Although the 2004 comedy “Envy” wasn’t a big hit, Black at least got to work with Barry Levinson.
Black was therefore in great shape in the early 2000s. And his star would only continue to rise. But perhaps his need to work with famous directors skewed some of his career decisions for the worse. Black, according to his own ethics, would never work with an up-and-coming director or a very promising talent. Indeed, it was because he didn’t know the director that Black revealed, in a recent interview with Capital FM (covered by EW), that he turned down one of the biggest superhero hits of 2004. Black, it seems, was offered the role of Syndrome, the supervillain in Brad Bird’s animated film “The Incredibles.”
Black turned down the role, thinking he did not want to do an animated voice for an unknown director. When he finally saw the film, of course, Black deeply regretted his decision.
Jack Black turned down the role of Syndrome in The Incredibles
This was the early 2000s, mind you, so Brad Bird wasn’t really well known. “The Incredibles” was only Bird’s second feature film after 1999’s “The Iron Giant.” And while “The Iron Giant” is pretty widely beloved these days, it was initially something of a bomb, and it took a long time to build up an appreciative audience. When Black was approached to star in a Brad Bird film, even though it was for Pixar, he didn’t know “The Iron Giant.” The role of Syndrome ended up going to Jason Lee, who did an exemplary job. About the experience, Black said:
“I was offered, and I regret it, saying no… I was offered Syndrome in this fantastic movie ‘The Incredibles’. By the way, one of my all-time favorites. […] And I said no because I was like, “Um, Brad Bird? I’ve never heard of him! »
Bird, of course, would gain popularity when “The Incredibles” became a huge hit and received critical acclaim to boot. At the time, many viewers thought it was the best “Fantasti Four” movie we’d ever seen, and it was certainly novel to see original superheroes in animated form. This was only a few years before “Iron Man,” so there was still room in the market for such things.
Of course, Bird would only continue to rise. He followed “The Incredibles” in 2007 with the animated food film “Ratatouille.” He made his live-action directorial debut in 2011 with “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.” Bird suffered his first major bomb in 2015 with “Tomorrowland,” but returned in 2018 with “Incredibles II.” Maybe Black would have been wise to say yes to “The Incredibles.”
