Jack Black regrets turning down The Incredibles voice role

Jack Black regrets turning down the opportunity to voice the villain Syndrome in Pixar's 2004 animated hit The Incredibles.

The School of Rock actor has revealed that he was offered the voice role but he decided to pass on the project because he hadn't heard of director Brad Bird and felt like the character needed a rewrite to give him more dimensions.

"I was offered, and I do regret it, saying no... I was offered Syndrome in that fantastic movie The Incredibles - one of my favourites of all time, by the way," Black said during an interview on the Capital Breakfast radio show. "And I said no because I was like, 'Uhhh, Brad Bird? Never heard of him!'

"(I said to him), '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. Get out of here.'"

Syndrome was ultimately voiced by My Name Is Earl actor Jason Lee in the superhero movie, which also featured the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, and Samuel L. Jackson.

The film was a huge critical and commercial success and won the Best Animated Feature Oscar. A sequel was released in 2018 and a third movie is in the works.

Reflecting on his decision, Black added, "I learned a valuable lesson because when that movie came out, it was one of the best movies ever made. I was like, 'Why was I being so difficult?'"

The funnyman would later land the lead voice role of Po in 2008's Kung Fu Panda, which has spawned three sequels. More recently, he voiced video game character Bowser in 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie. He will return for the sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which will reach cinemas in April.