Jack Black isn't Jack Black's original name

Jack Black has been gracing our screens for years now and has made his mark as a national treasure.

Making us belly laugh as delightfully awkward and hilarious characters in films like Nacho Libre, Shallow Hal andYear One.

And we'll get to see him as Bowser in the upcoming Super Mario Movie, which fans are already obsessed with.

But he's a man of many talents, as he also fronted the comedy rock band, Tenacious D.

The two-piece are renowned for their hilarious lyrics and killer solos, like in hit song Tribute, which stars David Grohl as the Devil in the music video.

It's a pretty wild trip if you somehow haven't seen it.

As familiar as we all are with Black, you've probably never thought to question his name.

Paramount Pictures

However, it may come as a surprise that his name hasn't always been Jack Black.

Black was born in Santa Monica, California as Thomas Jacob Black, back in the summer of '69.

Perhaps he should have been called Bryan Adams instead.

But he developed the nickname 'Jack', which is a shortened version of his middle name, Jacob, and, lo and behold, the name stuck.

It's not uncommon for actors entering in Hollywood to switch up their names into something more memorable. Could you imagine referring to Vin Diesel as Mark Sinclair?

And arguably, Jack Black does have a better ring to it.

@jackblack/Instagram

Black has been in the industry since 1982, so he's been around for a bit.

And with a long-standing career like that, sometimes things might slip through the cracks, like any forgotten roles for instance.

But it turns out that a young Black had graced our television screens at just 13-years-old.

Back in 1982, he got his first acting role in a TV advert for a video game called Pitfall!, which it was all about a guy making his way through the jungle while avoiding plenty of dangers.

Does that ring any bells?

YouTube/HGUTL

Many pointed out that is basically what Black's character does in the Jumanji movies.

And people have been absolutely loving this weird connection through his career, declaring that 'Jack Black was in Jumanji before he was in Jumanji'.

Someone else said 'his body was built specifically for a pith helmet', noting that the hat a teenage Black wore in the advert was basically the same as the one he had for the Jumanji movies.

Others found it a bit weird to see Black as a kid, with one person commenting 'it never occurred to me that Jack Black was ever a child', and we can kind of understand what they mean.

Topics: Celebrity, Music, Film and TV

Harley Young