TENACIOUS D
IN THE PICK OF DESTINY
Q&A with Jack Black and Kyle Gass		 Search all of phase9.tv






Continued from page 2

Jack sends up Catherine Zeta Jones's famous scene in ENTRAPMENT.

KYLE GASS: Yeah that's true.

JACK BLACK: Yeah the laser deactivation scene...I know there's been a lot of them, a lot of laser deactivation scenes in the history of cinema, but in this one, I think you'll agree, we took it to the next level.

KYLE GASS: That's probably the one scene that got us the R rating.

JACK BLACK: They have a rule in the States about erect penises - you can't see an erect penis. A flaccid penis, you can show them all day, no problem, but once you go erect, it's a taboo, but we solved it by covering it with tight-y white-ys.

KYLE GASS: It's amazing how tight it fits around.

It was a totally functional scene and relevant to the movie.

JACK BLACK: And it was not sexual.

KYLE GASS: Except maybe when you were thinking, you had to really concentrate.

In America, I was wondering how the League of Human Decency or whatever these organisations are called these days, how they had reacted to the album's lyrics.

JACK BLACK: Yeah, we haven't heard from the League yet.

KYLE GASS: It can only help though.

Have people protested against the fact that the songs of Tenacious D are of a certain Anglo-Saxon bent?

KYLE GASS: I remember when we were here at Brixton Academy, we actually hired a priest to go out and complain.

JACK BLACK: We want the protests!

KYLE GASS: [mimicking the priest] "Stay out! Stay out!"

JACK BLACK: He got attacked. Someone threw something at his head.

A Tenacious D fan?

JACK BLACK: Unfortunately we've got some rowdy fans.

KYLE GASS: You can't pick your fans.

JACK BLACK: We don't condone that kind of violence but we've stopped hiring pretend priests.

KYLE GASS: I ran over a paparazzi guy this morning. If he sues me, I'm a little frightened....

JACK BLACK: He did! He did! As soon as we came off the plane, there was this guy taking pictures and Kyle went into security mode.

KYLE GASS: Well, it was security mode but I was really just trying to get into the picture....

JACK BLACK: And he steamrolled the guy and then he immediately claimed he had like whiplash [in English accent] "Oh my lower lumbar! It hurts, it really hurts. Did anyone see that?"

You mentioned you've got Brooks Wackerman in your band, but who would win in a drum off between John Bonham and Keith Moon?

JACK BLACK: I'm gonna be controversial. Everyone's gonna say John Bonham but I'm gonna say Keith Moon. Why? Because he's out of control. He's right on the edge of barely being sane. I like that. I like the crazies in all arts.

KYLE GASS: Crazy people are right on.

Jack, you're a father now. I'm wondering if you will be keen to pass on the gift of rock to your children?

KYLE GASS :Is it a gift?

JACK BLACK: Can you wrap it up?

It is a gift.

JACK BLACK: The thing is the kids always seem like they rebel about what the parents push on them, so I'm going to pretend like I don't want him to like the rock. I'm going to listen to it but only like in my private chambers and he'll hear echoes coming and say "What was that you were listening to, Papa?" and I'll say "Nothing my son. You're not ready, you're not ready", and then that'll be how he gets it. Reverse.

You're part of the Frat Pack. How did that start and are you going to keep appearing in each other's films?

JACK BLACK: [turns to Kyle] Are you in the Frat Pack? How did you get in?

KYLE GASS: No.

Kyle, you're in the 'Anchorman' commentary, you just appeared...

KYLE GASS: Yes, yes. They said "We need a Frat Packer to come in for some comedy".

JACK BLACK: It originated when Ben Stiller called all the top comedians of the time over to his headquarters that he has inside the Hollywood sign. People don't know but he spent a billion dollars to hollow out this huge thing. Tim Robbins works the door and we all have these huge Frat Pack helicopters that come out of the 'O'. The 'O' lifts up and out come the helicopters. We talk about what our plan is to dominate the world of comedy. "Will, you take the new Christmas movie. Jack, you go rock. Ben go do a romantic lead, a Jew with anxiety"

I was just wondering about the hallucinogenic references and how important to the film they are.

KYLE GASS: Drugs are important [pause] in the film...not in real life.

JACK BLACK: We've always planned on some day going into the forest and finding a cabin and renting a cabin and locking all the doors and taking a pill to just write a song, but we've never actually done it. I haven't actually taken a hallucinogen since I was in my twenties. The last time I took it I felt like I was about to lose my mind. When you get older it gets a little dicey.

Who do you rely on to give you comments and feedback on your performance? Do you have very good friends advising you?

KYLE GASS: It's pretty collaborative, with Liam directing and producer Stuart Cornfeld. Stuart was a real good bouncing board. This movie seemed really collaborative. It seemed really open.

JACK BLACK: It's helpful to watch it with an audience, like the first rough cut and watch it with a random group of people and see how stuff played in the room. We made a lot of adjustments.

Is it equally important to appeal to existing fans or those who are coming to Tenacious D fresh?

KYLE GASS: It was actually a pretty big deal. We were like hell, should we just start in the middle of this thing and then only fans will know what's going on? I think if just the fans came, we make about $10,000 which is why we had a broaden it out.

JACK BLACK: That's not true dude. We would make like over a million dollars. But that's not enough. That's a big flop.

Jack, in SCHOOL OF ROCK, you famously make the kids pledge an allegiance to the band. Did you make Kyle do the same and what did you have to say?

KYLE GASS: Did Jack make me swear allegiance to his band? I think you have that reversed!

JACK BLACK: Oh man, you've crossed the line now.

KYLE GASS: We kicked around the idea of band tats [laughs] but then we got scared of the needles.

A lot of your inspirational bands are old classics. Are there any more good bands coming through?

JACK BLACK: There are a lot of good bands. It's not really as exciting a scene like it was in the olden times or even in the early 90s. There's no real movement now is there, or am I out of touch?

KASS GASS: Movement?

JACK BLACK: I like some bands [laughs]. There are still some good bands coming out Detroit, Michigan, Perth Australia - I just wanted to say an obscure one and didn't want to say Sydney...and there was a great band that comes out of Perth Scotland, strangely enough.

 Tenacious D: In The Pick Of Destiny – movie information
PHASE9 movie review
On the red carpet at the Tenacious D London world premiere

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