This Friday, the uber-Texas comedy Bernie opens in Dallas, so we thought we’d give you a look-see with this interview by contributor Chris Azzopardi with the movie’s star, Jack Black, who shares his take on the character … and the pedicure he gave co-star Shirley MacLaine.
BLACK IN TEXAS
Is Bernie Jack Black’s first gay role? As a small-town Texan teddy bear who goes off the deep end, it might be. But because the real-life man he’s playing isn’t out, we may never truly know.
Bernie is an offbeat black comedy based on a true story of a flamboyant people-pleaser who befriends the local she-devil, and then turns on her. As the titular mortician who is, as one townie calls him, “light in the loafers,” Black — known for fun-loving roles in School of Rock and Tropic Thunder, and a hilarious kidnapping cameo in last year’s The Muppets — is totally non-Black, playing Bernie Tiede with understated finesse, an effeminate lisp and an endearing touch.
We got Black on the phone for an exclusive chat about his maybe-gay turn, what he has in common with Bernie and how LGBT rights is a “no-brainer” issue for him.
It’s going to be a super team-up tomorrow in Cowtown. Q Cinema partners with Samaritan House and the Lone Star Film Society to screen ‘And the Band Played On,’ the landmark HBO film that chronicled the early history of AIDS in the U.S. The screening is free and starts at 7 p.m. with a reception before at 6 p.m.
