Hollywood star Paul Rudd has expressed his excitement about starring in the upcoming film Anaconda, primarily because it allowed him to collaborate with his “hero” Jack Black once more.
“Every once in a while, something will happen where I’m afforded the opportunity to get to work with a hero of mine,” Rudd shared in a joint interview. Turning to Black, he added, “It happened on this one in the form of this old hunk of love.”
Rudd also took a moment to praise his co-stars in the action-comedy movie, Steve Zahn and Thandiwe Newton. He emphasized, “It’s the people, really, right?”
Black concurred, stating, “It is the peeps. It’s funny, because in this movie we are playing filmmakers, and so in a way we are playing ourselves. It was very close to home. These friends are going out to make their dreams come true. And that’s how I feel every time I go out to make a movie.”
Anaconda follows best friends Ronald “Griff” Griffen Jr. and Doug McCallister as they travel to the Amazon rainforest in South America to reboot the 1997 film of the same name, which originally featured Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez, and Jon Voight. However, their project faces peril when a massive, bloodthirsty anaconda begins to hunt them down.
Rudd and Black have previously shared the screen in films like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and portrayed Beatles legends John Lennon and Paul McCartney in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. With Anaconda, which releases on Christmas, Rudd noted that this is the first time the duo has taken on lead roles together, and he thoroughly enjoyed witnessing Black’s performance.
“It really was the first time that I got to see him 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. To see him interact with every single person was astounding,” Rudd remarked.
Speaking to Black, he added, “You gave everybody a bit of a Jack Black experience. It didn’t matter what the time was or where you were. You’re a very good person. Honest to God, it was inspiring to see.”