Famously a guy with a penchant for big entrances, Jack Black outdid even himself at the UK premiere of his new all-action animated flick, Kung Fu Panda. Surrounded by Chinese dancers and martial arts experts, he was carried through Leicester Square in a sedan chair before being greeted by a giant panda (not a real one, animal lovers) and busting a few impressive roundhouse kicks of his own.
“They carried me in this little ramshackle hut which they were carrying on their shoulders,” said Jack outside the Vue West End on Thursday night. “Luckily, they were four very, very strong guys because I was worried that they were going to get a hernia. Luckily, there were no problems.”
The tale of a clumsy panda who discovers that he’s the fabled dragon warrior and destined to protect the weak and powerless, Kung Fu Panda finds Black joined by a none-more-starry cast, including the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan and Angelina Jolie.
Speaking of Angelina, has she forgiven Jack for his premature announcement of her pregnancy at the Cannes film festival?
“I think so, but I haven’t spoken to her since the event” he said. “But then I never spoke to her before the event so it’s pretty much the same as it always was. I think she’s neutral on the subject of me.”
The movie finds Black’s character Po learning the ways of kung fu before being forced to fight the merciless snow leopard Tai Lung (voiced by McShane). While this didn’t require much in the way of martial arts prowess from Black it did require a great deal of grunting.
“You know, I was pretty comfortable with the fight noises,” he said. “In fact if this whole acting thing doesn’t work out I might have a second career in stunt noise making.”
Black was joined on the red carpet in London by co-stars McShane, Liu and the venerable Hoffman. What made the two-time Oscar winner want to lend his voice to a red panda martial arts master named Shifu?
“Well, I never did animation before and I always wanted to try it,” said Hoffman. “Jeffrey Katzenburg, DreamWorks’ head of animation, asked me if I wanted to get involved and I really did. I mean who wouldn’t want to work with such a great voice cast and team?
Talking about the cast, how did he get on with his co-stars?
“Well. I liked working with Jack but we only got to work together for one day, which was a shame. Angelina I didn’t get to work together at all, which was even more of a shame,” he said before joking. “She heard that I was in the movie, she left Brad Pitt and came over - my wife had to kick her out of the house because she was making moves on me.”