NEED TO KNOW

  • Jack Black opened up about the movie role he most regrets turning down
  • Black said he was being ‘difficult’ and missed out on starring in one of his favorite films
  • Black said the incident was ultimately a ‘valuable lesson’

Jack Black is looking back at the role he didn’t take.

Black, 56, opened up about the role he most regretted saying no to in a Capital FM interview published Dec. 25. Asked to name a movie role he turned down, the actor said that it was a “tricky question.”

“Because then the person who got the role, they look like s— because, ‘Oh, I was a second choice? I was sloppy seconds!'” the Anaconda star joked. One of the hosts, Jordan North saying he’d “never thought of that” and wouldn’t ask the question again.

“No, I’m going to answer it because I don’t care,” Black joked. 

“I was offered, and I do regret it, saying no… I was offered Syndrome in that fantastic movie The Incredibles — one of my favorites of all time, by the way,” the actor said. Syndrome, voiced by Jason Lee, was an obsessive fan of Craig T. Nelson’s Mr. Incredible who becomes a super villain, intent on stealing the powers of real supers. The 2004 film’s voice cast also included Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Samuel L. Jackson and Elizabeth Peña.

Syndrome in ‘The Incredibles’.

Pixar/Disney

“And I said no because I was like, ‘Uhhh, [director] Brad Bird? Never heard of him!'” Black said. 

He said his issue was with how Syndrome was written. “This character that you’re offering me is like a villain, but he’s kinda one-dimensional. I’m interested but I’d like to see a rewrite,” Black remembered telling the director. “Will you add some dimensions to this character?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re done. Get out of here.'”

Syndrome and The Incredibles ended up being a massive success, bringing in over $630 million at the box office and receiving widespread critical acclaim. It spawned a 2018 sequel, Incredibles 2, with a third movie in development.

Black no longer stands by his notes on the script. “I learned a valuable lesson because when that movie came out, it was one of the best movies ever made,” the star said. “I was like, ‘Why was I being so difficult?!'”

Jack Black in December 2025.

Jeff Spicer/Getty

Nonetheless, Black’s career survived turning down The Incredibles. He had starred in School of Rock in 2003 and went on to star in movies like 2004’s Shark Tale, 2005’s King Kong and 2006’s Nacho Libre and The Holiday. He’s also led his own animated franchise, Kung Fu Panda, and voiced Bowser in 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. He’ll reprise that role in 2025’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Back in December, Paul Rudd opened up to PEOPLE about his excitement at getting to work with Black on their new film, Anaconda. “Every once in a while something will happen where I’m afforded the opportunity to get to work with a hero of mine,” Rudd, 56, said. Turning to his costar, he adds, “It happened on this one in the form of this old hunk of love.”

Both actors appeared in Will Ferrell’s 2004 hit Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and in the 2007 parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, but Anaconda was their first time as true costars. 

“It really was the first time,” Rudd said, that “I really got to see [Black] in action… People are in awe, rightfully so, of him. And the greatest thing about all of that was, no matter who it was at whatever age — especially kids — Jack is such a good dude, that to see him interact with every single person was astounding.”