The Secret Plan of Jack Black

For Black, Nacho Libre is more than just a chance to have a say; it's a shrewd career move. He gets to do things he knows audiences love--move his eyebrows like inchworms, sing goofy songs, make fart jokes--while trying his hand at difficult physical work as well (he performed most of his own stunts in the ring), delivering a few moving speeches in Mexican-accented English (which is funny without being too offensive) and producing. The biggest challenge, though, was getting used to seeing himself as Nacho. "At first I would have rather been naked to tell you the truth," Black says, "because I just look so goddang ridiculous. But then I thought, Wait, that's my job. The stretchy pants are my friends. I love the stretchy pants! It just took a little mental adjustment, because I know that when I'm embarrassed and scared about acting, that means I'm going to get some good life-nugget knowledge out of it. And I love the knowledge nuggets." They go down perfectly with the special sauce.