Jack Black is no stranger to wild and chaotic movie moments, but he’s not exactly the guy you picture sprinting away from explosions or leaping from buildings in slow motion. While action icons like Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Costner dominated films like Demolition Man and Waterworld, Black’s roles in those blockbusters were barely more than blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos. Even when he found himself in peril in King Kong or the Jumanji series, CGI and green screens did most of the heavy lifting.
But when it came time for him to step onto a real set, surrounded by real danger, things got a little too intense—almost deadly, in fact. And the bizarre story that unfolded? It involved a Hawaiian jungle, a stubbornly pregnant water buffalo, and an actor nearly meeting his end in the most ridiculous way possible.
The Role That Almost Killed Him
When Jack Black first read the script for Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, he was all in. “It was the funniest script I’d read in years,” he told Collider. “I was born to play this role.” But there was one part of the job he was far less excited about.
“I’m not getting on a f***ing water buffalo naked,” he had initially insisted. Fair enough—who would? Unfortunately for Black, the director had other plans. With some convincing, he begrudgingly stripped down to his underwear and climbed aboard the massive creature, hoping for the best.
That hope was misplaced.
Bertha Had Other Plans
Unbeknownst to the cast and crew, the water buffalo—affectionately named Bertha—was dealing with a personal issue. She was pregnant. And she had zero interest in ferrying a half-naked Hollywood actor through the jungle.
During one particularly chaotic moment, Bertha decided she’d had enough. “She did a little bucking bronco,” Black recalled, “and I went flying.”
For a split second, things could have gone terribly wrong. He landed just inches away from jagged rocks, somehow avoiding a career-ending (or life-ending) injury. “I don’t know how I didn’t break my neck,” he admitted.
A Wild Tribute
Shortly after filming, Bertha gave birth to a calf. In an oddly touching tribute, the trainers named the newborn Little Jack, immortalizing the strange bond between the actor and the disgruntled buffalo.
Of course, it’s a good thing Black survived—otherwise, Little Jack might have been named after the man who perished in a freak on-set accident, launched into the air by an irritated mother-to-be. Instead, the experience became just another absurd chapter in Jack Black’s legendary Hollywood journey.
