Jack Black was 'terrified' of collecting Comedic Genius award
Jack Black was "terrified" about picking up his Comedic Genius accolade at the MTV Movie and TV Awards.
The 52-year-old actor was honoured with the prize at Sunday night's (05.06.22) ceremony at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and he admitted he had been stressed "for days" at the thought of having to get up on stage in front of so many people, but he knew he'd soon ease into his speech.
He told 'Entertainment Tonight': "It feels the same as all performances of my life, cause even though it's not technically a performance, when you get out there in front of a crowd, in front of a TV camera, the pressure's on. I get terrified, I stress about it for days. Then, once I'm out there and I feel the roar of the crowd, I feel the flames licking my butt, I'm like, 'this is fun, I love it."
During his speech, the 'School of Rock' actor grew emotional as he paid tribute to wife Tanya Haden and their sons Samuel, 15, and 14-year-old Thomas, and he later explained that behind his "clown"-like exterior, his family are at the heart of everything he does.
Asked if he got emotional, he said: "I did. I'm a clown that likes to throw down and mess around, but at the end of the day, I love my peeps, I love my family, that's what it's all about.”
When Jack arrived on stage in a panda costume in a nod to his lead role in the animated 'Kung Fu Panda' franchise, he joked he needed a "little blast of oxygen" after stepping out following a montage of his career highlights.
He then quipped: “I don’t deserve this but I will take it.
"Are you kidding? For what? 'School of Rock', 'Jumanji', 'Kung Fu Panda', 'Goosebumps', 'Nacho Libre', 'Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny', my sweet dance moves on TikTok? What are we talking about? It’s ridiculous!”
He then grew emotional as he praised his family.
He said: “Thank you, MTV. This is for all the ‘School of Rock-ers’ out there, and for all the ‘Tenacious D-sciples’ and, most of all, my amazing wife Tanya [Haden] and our two incredible boys, I love you,” he said.
