Jack Black didn’t watch the original ‘Jumanji’ until he was offered a role in the sequel.
The 48-year-old actor stars alongside the likes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan in ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’, but Jack admits he only recently watched the 1995 original starring Robin Williams for the first time.
He confessed: "I hadn’t actually seen the original until I read this script, I thought I should watch the original. Robin Williams kicked so much ass. It’s right up there with my favourite Robin Williams performances because it’s perfectly suited to his strengths in that heightened reality.
"My favourite Robin Williams are like, what’s the one where he’s the blue genie? ‘Aladdin’. He throws down hard in ‘Aladdin’. And ‘Jumanji’. Those for me, pound for pound, are the most powerful one-two punch."
Despite this, Jack is keen to stress that the new Jake Kasdan-directed movie is distinctly different from the original, which concerned a young man who became trapped inside a board game.
Looking forward to the new film – which is scheduled for release in December – Jack told Collider: "It’s not a reboot. It’s so different, but it is kind of a continuation of the story 20 years later. The game itself evolves.
"It’s like the game is a living organism and it moves into current day where kids don’t play board games anymore. Kids are on their iPads and playing their video games. It morphs for the times.
"I thought what was cool about that first one was he’s in the game and he pops out of the game after 20 years, but you never see that, you’re never in the game in the jungle. And this time, we’re going into the game."
Jack Black only watched Jumanji after being offered the sequel
