Before becoming one of Hollywood's most revered comedic actors in films such as Tenacious D and School Of Rock,, Jack Black started out in the world of advertising, lending his face to promote the sale of various products, such as video games.
In fact, at just 13 years of age, the actor began his career by appearing in an 1982 ad for the Activision video game, Pitfall!, which was playable on an Atari 2600 console.
The ad shows a baby-faced Black sporting a Safari pith helmet in similar style to the one his character Professor Sheldon Oberon wears in 2017's Jumanji. In fact, Pitfall! itself follows an incredibly similar narrative to the fantasy adventure film; with the aim of the game being to safely move your character - called Pitfall Harry - through a jungle, collecting treasures, all while dodging various dangers, such as crocodiles, snakes, scorpions, campfires, quicksand, and other such hazards. Clearly a foreshadowing moment for the teenage Jack Black.
"Just last night, I was lost in the jungle with Pitfall Harry, surrounding by giant scorpions and man-eating crocodiles!" exclaims the young actor, with all the zealous enthusiasm of his older self.
Years later, Black would revisit his debut role in a clip uploaded online, and recall what he remembers about playing the game himself as a child.
"This is Pitfall, this was my first job" he says, while turning away from the video game screen. "I did a Pitfall commercial, it was 1982, I was 13 years old. And at the time, this was the most badass video game ever created.
"The graphics were like 'What?! it looks like a human running, and jumping over stuff!' It was a great commercial gig for me to have because I really believed in the product".
Fortunately, Black's commercial was a flying success, with Activision selling millions of copies of the game.
The actor's newest role as Bowser in the video-game-come-to-life film Super Mario Bro.s Movie is out in cinemas now.
Check out the ad below:
