Jack Black was Maya Rudolph’s improv coach in high school
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I don’t know why I am always fascinated by longtime celebrity friendships. I think it’s because, to me, the company you keep is one of the most indicative things about you as a person. And yes, I know there are exceptions, like a bunch of people coming to the defense of a toxic or super problematic colleague, but you know what I mean. Well, here’s a bit of celebrity friendship backstory that I didn’t know about before! Two actors who are consistently mentioned by their peers as being genuinely nice and great to work with are Maya Rudolph and Jack Black. Maya was on The Drew Barrymore Show when she confirmed that she and Jack both went to the same high school. She also shared that Jack, who was two years ahead of her, was actually her improv coach!
When host Drew Barrymore, 49, asked the comedian if it was true they attended the same school, Rudolph replied, “Yeah, high school. He was two years older than me. He transferred in the 10th grade, and I was in 8th.”
The Bridesmaids actress explained that her drama teacher paired them together and that Black was her improv coach.
She added, “He was my improv coach for an improv competition we did, and he got me into the improv class and he took me to my first Groundlings show — Groundlings Theatre — which is where I ended up.”
Rudolph called Black the “most inspiring” person, saying, “First of all, you have to understand something about Jack. Jack has been the same person since the day I met him. The exact same person. He’s just that guy, he’s just special.”
Both Black and Rudolph attended Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, California. Black graduated in 1987, while Rudolph was Class of 1990.
This is such fun trivia. That’s so cool that Jack is the one who took Maya to her first Groundlings show, too. I had no idea that he was such an essential part of her origins story! We’re big Jack Black fans in my household, from Tenacious D to School of Rock to the Jumanji remakes and beyond. My husband and kids also watched a lot of his YouTube channel JablinskiGames, during the Covid lockdowns, as well. Anyway, it’s always nice to have confirmation that a star you like is a decent human being. I’d love to see Maya and Jack do a comedy project together sometime soon. It’s hard to believe that they haven’t already.
Here’s the clip of Maya telling Drew about her high school improv days with Jack:
