Jack Black was left cringing with embarrassment when he first met Cate Blanchett, because the Oscar winner caught him with a swag bag full of free beauty creams.
The School of Rock star crossed paths with Cate back in 2014, and he admits the circumstances were not quite as he had hoped.
"We did meet one time, (at a party on) the night before the Oscars…," he shared on morning show Live with Kelly and Ryan. "On the way out, you can get a gift bag if you want to, so I always feel a little embarrassed about it, 'cause, you know, 'Here comes Jack Black with a Prada bag filled with creams and lotions…!'
"And I go to the valet parking (after collecting the swag bag), and who's there? My favorite actress in the world, Cate Blanchett!"
Jack was silently praying the Australian icon wouldn't recognize him, but she did, and made a playful comment about his bag full of goodies.
"I'm like (in his head), 'Don't see me with the Prada bag…' and she says, 'Jack Black, with a Prada bag filled with lotions?'" he remembered. "I was like, 'I'm so embarrassed right now.' I told her what a huge fan I am of hers, and she's like, 'Thank you', and I thought in my mind, 'Maybe someday we'll work together,' but I didn't want to say it 'cause it would feel too dumb, 'cause she's, like, an Academy Award-winning genius, and I'm just a clown!"
Jack has now lived out his dream to work alongside Cate after they were cast in The House with a Clock in Its Walls, and the actor believes it's no coincidence director Eli Roth cast him as a warlock in the new dark fantasy film, after co-writing a spoof song about a mystical character with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl years ago.
"Dave Grohl had me do a guest spot on a heavy metal album he did, called Probot…, and it was seven years ago or something," Jack recalled. "We did this song I Am the Warlock, and it was like a prophecy.
"I always wanted to have magical powers and warlocky (sic) powers, so this was like a world that came to me finally. It was like I was born to play the warlock!"