Happy 50th birthday, Jack Black! The star's best quotes on comedy, music and kids
Jack Black is another year older!
The actor, comedian and musician turns 50 on Aug. 28, so to celebrate, we're rounding up some of his best quotes.
Black is adored by fans for his humorous roles in 2003's "School of Rock" and 2006's "Nacho Libre," among others. More recently, he was in "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" beside Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Nick Jonas in 2017.
Not only does he have comedy chops, he also has some serious musical skills.
Since 1994, Black has made up half of the comedy rock duo Tenacious D.
He's also husband to cellist and singer Tanya Haden, with whom he shares two children: Samuel, 13 and Thomas, 11.
Here are some of Black's best quotes in celebration of his birthday.
On comedians
"The real challenge is if you don't look super sexy, like a Brad Pitt, you're going to have to try harder. You're going to have to make up for it in other ways. You're going to have to charm the pants off them. You're going to have to make them laugh. But those are good hoops to have to jump through. You're going to have to do some writing. Let's face it, the great comedians now that are handicapped in the looks department are tremendous writers." – NPR, 2012
On finding acceptance in comedy
"I remember feeling early on an acceptance, like from other kids, if you could make them laugh that was an in," he says. "It was a way to create connections with people. To put on a show there was a certain adrenalin and a certain kind of happiness. Like a healthy drug." – The Sydney Morning Herald, 2018
On his kids
"My children are magical creatures and I love them to death. But it is challenging. It takes a lot of energy. When you get home from work you need to spend time with them – you can't just go and work on the computer. You need to give them your attention and listen to them and play their games, and those crazy pretending games take a lot of energy." – The Guardian, 2011
On music
"I don't have any real spirituality in my life – I'm kind of an atheist – but when music can take me to the highest heights, it's almost like a spiritual feeling. It fills that void for me." – NPR, 2012
On getting his kids to like his music
"The thing is, the kids always rebel against what the parents try to push on them so I’m going to pretend like I don’t want him to hear the rock. I’m going to listen to it only in my private chambers. He’ll hear echoes of it and say: “What was that you were listening to papa?” And I’ll say: “Nothing son, you’re not ready.” – IndieLondon
On his first "big break"
"I got the part in an Activision commercial for the Atari 2600 – the original video-game system. It was for a game called Pitfall. And I remember all the lines still, to this day. I was only 13 years old... Before I got that commercial, I just prayed to the heavens that if I could just be on television and the kids could see me from school, that would be the answer to all my prayers and I wouldn't need anything more." – NPR, 2012
On retiring
"Whenever I work on a film I feel like, OK, this is the last one and then I'm going to retire... And then whenever I get another job it's like they pulled me back in. That's really how I feel and that's kind of where I'm at right now. But we'll see. We'll see what's next. So I don't know what that is. I guess that's the dance?" – The Sydney Morning Herald, 2018
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jack Black's best quotes for his 50th birthday