The comedy legend blown away by Jack Black
The comedy legend blown away by Jack Black was the late Harold Ramis, who directed Black in 'Year One' after following his career from 'High Fidelity' onwards.
(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Film » Cutting Room Floor
Wed 15 January 2025 16:45, UK
In 2009, Jack Black was directed by an absolute legend of comedy in a collaboration that had fans salivating at the prospect of what they had in store. Unfortunately, the movie was arguably the worst of either manâs career and the last film the beloved director ever made. Still, this didnât dampen the enthusiasm either funnyman had about working with each other, and the director waxed lyrical in interviews about how blown away he was by Black the first time he saw him on film.
In fact, he was so stunned by Blackâs double-threat approach to entertainment that he wasnât even sure acting was his primary gig.
By the late 2000s, Harold Ramisâ career as an actor and a director seemed to be winding down. However, the legendary star, who co-wrote and starred in Ghostbusters and directed Groundhog Day, was still contributing to the comedy landscape. After all, he directed the neo-noir black comedy The Ice Harvest in 2005 before making memorable cameos in 2007âs Knocked Up and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. When an idea popped into his head that he couldnât help laughing at, though, he began mounting what would become his final film before he passed away in 2014: the Biblical slacker comedy Year One.
As a self-proclaimed history buff with an interest in various religions, Ramis began thinking about how he would have acted in the Garden of Eden â and it made him chuckle. He told Movieline, âWould I have eaten that fruit? And I thought, âWhy would I? In order to get laid? Well, yeah, Iâd do that.'â
He then became convinced he would have been the worldâs worst hunter-gatherer and concluded that there would surely have been other lazy members of an ancient tribe. He smiled, âThere had to be some slackers. All that started to seem very funny to me.â
(Credits: Far Out/ Focus Features)When Ramis began writing the script for the film and imagining who should play Zed, a disillusioned hunter who feels like he has no purpose in life, only one man came to mind. He had been aware of Black ever since his eye-catching supporting turn in High Fidelity, where his uncommon charisma and manic energy made him think, âHe was so good and so convincing that I wasnât even sure he was a real actor.â
When that film ended with Black on stage belting out Marvin Gayeâs âLetâs Get It On,â Ramis was even more stunned. He thought Black must have been a musician trying his hand at acting. In disbelief, he said, âWow, he can sing and play?â
From that point on, Ramis began tracking Blackâs all-singing, all-dancing career. He marvelled at how the guy could be both a leading man in Hollywood and a globetrotting rock star with his band Tenacious D and was âamazed at how winning he is and how much fun he is to watch.â
Fascinatingly, Ramis even told a humbled Black that the Tenacious D song âCosmic Shameâ influenced him while putting Year One together. When Black was asked about this by Movies, he said: âYeah, thatâs what he said to me and itâs very flatteringâŠthe idea in the song is that itâs about following your heart. Sometimes, youâll follow your heart, and it wonât lead to anything, but you have to try. You have to try because if you donât, youâll always regret it.â
While Black joked that Ramis probably claimed a love for âCosmic Shameâ as a deal-sweetener to convince him to sign up for Year One, it was obvious that receiving such praise from an icon was meaningful. After all, Ramisâ films like Meatballs, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Stripes, and National Lampoonâs Vacation hugely influenced Blackâs generation of comedic performers.
Thankfully, Black was clear that working on Year One wasnât just about paying tribute to director Ramis alongside co-star Michael Cera. Instead, Ramis fostered an environment where nothing was off-limits, encouraging the actors to try anything in pursuit of a laugh. This approach led Black to take his cues from what he affectionately referred to as Ramisâ âsnortle chortleââa telltale sign that the director found something genuinely funny.
He grinned, âHeâd be watching a take on the video monitor, and I would hear him laughingâŠWhenever I heard that, it fired me up, but Iâd also be thinking, âKeep it down and donât ruin the take.ââ
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