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Jack Black Reveals Biggest Regret of His Acting Career

The movie he turned down went on to become an Oscar-winning hit.

Jack Black, 56, revealed that turning down the role of the main antagonist in Pixar’s The Incredibles is the biggest regret of his acting career. Syndrome, also known as Buddy Pine, was the ginger-haired villain in the 2004 animated superhero film. Black said he passed on the opportunity to voice the iconic character because he had never heard of director Brad Bird. “I was offered, and I do regret it, saying ‘No,’” he told Capital FM. “I was offered Syndrome in that fantastic movie, The Incredibles, one of my favorites of all time, by the way." Black explained that he declined “because I was like, ‘Uhhh, Brad Bird? Never heard of him!’” He added that he told the director, “‘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. Will you add some dimensions to this character?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’re done.’” The role went to Jason Lee, and the movie went on to win the Oscar for best animated feature. “I learned a valuable lesson because when that movie came out, it was one of the best movies ever made,” Black said. “I was like, ‘Why was I being so difficult?’”