IT'S A HARD ROCK LIFE JACK BLACK PLUGGED RIGHT INTO THE ROLE OF MUSICAL MENTOR TO A GROUP OF YOUNG CHARGES.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

Whose bright idea was it to put Jack Black in ``School of Rock''?

We'll place the blame in a minute. But first, let's acknowledge that the concept was a natural.

The 34-year-old, L.A.-bred Black not only has brought a fine approximation of rock 'n' roll's anarchic, rebel spirit to an increasingly high-profile series of comedy roles in movies such as ``Jesus' Son,'' ``High Fidelity,'' ``Saving Silverman,'' ``Orange County'' and ``Shallow Hal,'' he's also the frontman for Tenacious D, the authentic-sounding heavy-metal parody act he created with fellow comic Kyle Gass.

``I tried to take rock seriously when I was in high school,'' notes Black, who with his portly frame and snide-but-impassioned delivery style is often compared to the late comic genius (and, need we mention, original Blues Brother?) John Belushi. ``I performed in a band. We went and played at a high-school party, and we were doing a real earnest, serious version of 'Iron Man.' No one paid attention, everyone was talking to each other, and we couldn't even hear ourselves play. It was a miserable failure. We stopped in the middle of the song, didn't even finish, and said, 'Let's just leave. This sucks. We suck.'

``And it devastated me, ended my musical aspirations for many years, until later when I got with Kyle Gass. Then I realized, if we approached this tongue-in-cheek a little bit ... I guess that stuck with me and carried over into my comedy.''

And the Black Sabbath humor approach has stuck ever since. ``School of Rock'' was written specifically with Black in mind by his onetime Hollywood Hills neighbor Mike White (``Orange County,'' ``The Good Girl'') and directed by Richard Linklater, the Texas filmmaker whose own indie works, such as ``Slacker'' and ``Dazed and Confused,'' evoke a musical, hope-I-die- before-I-get-old spirit, too.

``I felt like if I wrote something specifically to his comic gifts and his musical gifts, that it would be a lot of fun to watch,'' White explains. ``If Jack hadn't wanted to do it, I probably would have just put it in my drawer and forgotten about it.''

But the thing about ``School of Rock'' is, it also lets Black loose in a classroom full of tweens. He plays Dewey Finn, one of those guys who lives for rock but needs to get a life. When he's kicked out of his unsuccessful band and his substitute teacher roommate Ned (played by White) insists on rent money, the otherwise unskilled Dewey (``I contribute to society by rocking!'' is his creed) is in dire straits.

But when the tony Horace Green School calls looking for Ned to take over a class, Dewey impersonates his roommate and takes the well-paying job himself. Utterly unqualified to teach a pack of overachieving fifth- graders, he decides to impart the only knowledge he has. The result, also dubbed School of Rock, soon has a shot at winning a local Battle of the Bands - if principal and parents don't find out what they're up to first.

Kids from all over the continent were auditioned for roles as the brilliant musical minors. Most who made it into the movie got there on the strength of their musical as much as their acting talent. But were psychological screenings also done to determine if they could work with a professional malcontent like Black and not suffer permanent emotional damage?

``You have a bull in a china shop; that was always the metaphor I visualized for this movie,'' says Linklater. ``But Jack's great. It was fun to see him become the responsible adult that he sort of becomes in the movie. He really was that sort of older brother/uncle or something who was crazy, probably having a big impact on their lives, but was also very caring and protective of the kids ... and continues to be to this day. I think it's very natural. You get around young people and no matter what kind of person you are, you get that way.''

Black went out of his way to play games with his young co-stars between takes and would even jam with the budding musicians after work (he freely admits they were all better than him).

``They say don't work with kids or dogs 'cause they're cute, so they'll steal the focus,'' adds Black, every word, as usual, dripping with irony. ``But I don't care. I'll battle your cuteness with intensity. And my own cuteness; I'm snuggly buggly. I'm a big, insane teddy bear.''

Which makes us feel good about the kids (well, sort of). But what about the raucous comedian himself? Wouldn't surrounding himself with child actors dull the edge we've come to expect from him?

``The idea that it can't be good, it can't be funny because it's a kids movie is only something that's gone down in the last 10 years or so,'' Black reckons. ``Back in the '70s, like, one of my favorite movies ever is 'Bad News Bears.' That was a kids' movie but I don't think of it that way. I think it's a great movie because Walter Matthau was so funny and so harsh with those kids. He wasn't taking it easy on them, he was just treating them like people and he was so grumpy. We wanted this to be like the 'Bad News Bears' of rock.''

Funny idea, and a pretty accurate description. With Black, however, you can never really tell when he's talking straight or putting you on. As mentioned, his speaking voice seems to be naturally infused with sarcasm. But if the marginally more family-friendly persona he assumed for ``School of Rock'' remains recognizably rough and rude, it also gave him a chance to show the softer side of the smart-mouthed cynic.

``There are times in this movie when I really mean what I'm saying,'' Black confesses. ``It's not always tongue-in-cheek, there are some sincere moments. Like when I'm telling Tomika about how I've had problems with my weight, too, y'know. There's stuff where I'm not being ironic, necessarily. But you're right, irony is my comfort zone.''

And that's where he mostly remains. For all the cute factor the preteen rockers bring to ``School,'' the film is essentially one long Jack Black performance piece. When he's not trying to scam his way around fellow faculty and concert promoters, Dewey is firmly in place at the head of the class, expounding on rock theory and demonstrating power chords.

It's an exhaustive performance. But it wasn't exhausting, the actor says.

``You've gotta know that you only shoot, like, one minute of the movie a day, two minutes at the most,'' Black explains. ``So you only have to work it up in little gusts. It's all about relaxing in between. And not eating too much. That's the key. If I eat too much, then I can't get crazy.''

Black is actually a well-trained, disciplined actor. He first caught the bug while attending West L.A.'s Poseidon School, went on to study acting at UCLA and honed his craft with Tim Robbins' Actors' Gang troupe (Black made his movie debut in Robbins' first directing effort, the 1992 ``Bob Roberts'').

``I'm a perfectionist,'' Black admits. ``I'm not a sloppy actor, believe it or not. I like to nail it. I can get anxiety attacks if I don't feel like I've nailed it.''

White confirms that whatever impressions we might have of his former neighbor as an out-of-control lunatic are misinformed.

``Jack is as funny as he is on-screen, but he's a little bit more subdued,'' White says of the real Black. ``He's not a guy who throws parties all the time. In fact, we had a really sweet pad when we were living together during the making of the movie. And he refused to have a party. I was the one who was like, 'C'mon, we've gotta have a party, this place is awesome!' But it didn't happen.''

Black claims that his idea of a good time is taking in a movie with buddies or spending quiet evenings at home with his girlfriend of six years, stand-up comedian and ``Will & Grace'' writer Laura Kightlinger.

``It's stressful,'' he notes about a two-comic relationship. ``When we're both working, we fight a lot. We both want the other one to be our personal assistant and neither of us is willing to do it. Yeah, it can be stressful.''

Maybe a bundle of joy would change that dynamic. But even though he had a great time working with the kids in ``School of Rock,'' Black says the last thing he's ready for is parenthood.

``No, having children is not really on my mind right now,'' he confesses. ``It's a big responsibility, y'know, and I'm kind of a kid so I don't know if I should have 'em. I'd have to do some growing up that I don't really want to do.''

As for dealing with his ever-growing fame, Black approaches the issue with a uniquely mature perspective.

``It's kind of a drag when people want to party with me and wrestle me and stuff because they think that's what I'm gonna love,'' he says of overzealous fans. ``I deal with it by walking away, slowly, smiling, waving, thumbs up. 'Yeah man, I know what you're sayin'. Take it easy, bro!' And then if they come after me some more with a knife, I start running in a zigzaggy fashion.''

Black hopes that, whatever freak flag it encourages them to fly, ``School of Rock'' will not be viewed as some kind of manifesto to act just like Jack.

``Not really,'' he says when asked if the movie has a message for audiences. ``I just want 'em to enjoy. I didn't do it because I thought, man, this is gonna teach people what rock is about. I guess there is a little of that, actually. It's a little subversive - a touch - in that it's saying you don't have to follow all the rules, that you can go your own path and you should follow your heart.''

Last question: How did you keep the movie from getting sappy?

``You mean like that last sentence? Oh God. Um, I dunno. It's your fault. You asked me 'the message.' That's always going to turn into a sappy thing.

``By not focusing on messages. That's your answer.''

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) BLACK MAGIC

Jack strikes a chord with young co-stars in `School of Rock'

(2) no caption (Jack Black)