Black on black: dark comedy puts tears on the clown

Cherubic Jack Black probably isn't a casting director's first idea when casting the part of a real-life murderer. Yet that's exactly the role he plays in Bernie. Reuniting with his School of Rock director Richard Linklater for the off-kilter true-crime musical comedy, he plays Bernie Tiede, a big-hearted funeral director who was a pillar of his east Texas small town. In 1996 he snapped and killed his longtime companion, Marjorie Nugent, a wealthy, malicious, widely detested widow played in the film by Shirley MacLaine.

In a phone interview, Black explained the creative challenges of playing his testing part for real, and for laughs.

Q When you were first approached about the project, were you befuddled about what the tone was going to be?

A Yeah. It comes from very serious subject matter. It's about a real murder case. So you've got to tread lightly when you're going for a dark comedy based on real events. It's tricky terrain to say the least.

Obviously there were deep, emotional scenes that were challenging and there was some concern that I wouldn't be able to pull it off. But I'm actually a pretty emotional guy, even though I'm known for being a clown. When I go to the cinema, I'm the first guy to start crying.

So I know the waterworks are there. I've got a deep reservoir of emotion inside me. It was just relaxing and letting it flow.

Q A lot of what happens to Bernie is about bottling up humiliation. Did you identify with those feelings?

A I have that too. I feel like Bernie's fatal flaw in the story is that he doesn't have the release valve. When he's mistreated he doesn't tell people how he feels. He just bottles it up and puts it away.

Because it's so important that he be liked. I have that germ in me too where I need to be liked. It bothers me a lot if I feel like someone's mad at me. It'll eat away at me and I'll lose sleep over it and try to make it right.

He got trapped in an abusive relationship like a lot of people do. People say, "Why didn't he just leave?" That's always the question that's asked when there's an abusive relationship that ends in death. There's thousands of murders that happen every year between loved ones, husbands and wives and family members. There's almost always a history of abuse and the answer why they don't just leave is complicated. He was codependent with this woman. Instead of leaving and taking care of himself, he just stayed. I have that too, I'm guilty of not really expressing how I feel sometimes.

Q He attained a nice lifestyle with her, but the film notes that he went out of his way to lavish gifts on others as if to try to buy their favour. Was that more important to him than his own comfort?

A Yes, and the whole town loved him. That's a quality he still has to this day. When we went to visit him in prison, he was the most popular guy in the prison. Everybody loved Bernie.

He was teaching classes and making the prison a better place to be. I wanted to meet him face to face because I was looking for clues.

I wanted to listen to his accent and see the way he walked and talked and moved. I asked about what his relationships were like, what his life was like, what would lead him to this horrible crime when he seemed the least likely to commit a crime like that. He snapped. He bottled up too much and never released.

When you meet him and spend time with him, you definitely get the feeling he's not a danger to society. But he did a crime and he did deserve to do time. Did he deserve a life sentence? I don't think so, but sometimes that's what happens in a court system.

Q Did meeting the townspeople in Carthage, Texas, help you see Bernie through their eyes?

A It was a great benefit to hear their stories of love for Bernie. He was the most liked guy in town.

Q You have a moment of emotional breakdown after the murder. How did you prepare for such a starkly dramatic scene?

A You just close your eyes and imagine yourself in that horrible situation. I've had times in my life that I've done things that I've really regretted. Magnify that by a hundred, because this is something that I've never touched in my life but can relate to in a small way.

Q What are the challenges presented by making a movie based on a real tragedy?

A The challenges for me were the questions it doesn't answer. That's what makes it a cool movie and also a difficult one to play. What you're used to in a movie experience is clear good and evil. Clear description of why things happen. A lot of the why I had to figure out for myself.

Q Did you ever sing for Shirley MacLaine?

A I was just practising the songs from the movie and lots of gospel. She was really into it, saying we have to take this movie to Broadway as a musical. Can you imagine me murdering Shirley MacLaine as a musical? It could be really heavy and funny at the same time. That's on my bucket list, to hit Broadway in a classic musical some day.