Jack Black is making the press rounds for his new movie "Goosebumps," and the actor recently shed his funny exterior to talk about some tough moments he experienced growing up.
The 46-year-old father of two sat down with Parade for a frank conversation about losing his brother to AIDS and his drug use at an early age.
Black, an ardent supporter of LGBTQ rights, talked about the "devastating" time surrounding his brother's death in 1989. He said his much-older brother took him to his first rock concert and shaped his taste in music.
"[Death] didn’t happen quickly. We all saw the deterioration," said Black. "He was only 31. So very young. We were robbed of something precious. It was devastating."
Growing up, Black also shared that he struggled with substance abuse issues after his parents divorced.
"I remember just lots of turmoil from that time period," said Black, describing his younger self. "I was having a lot of troubles with cocaine . . . I was hanging out with some pretty rough characters. I was scared to go to school [because] one of them wanted to kill me. I wanted to get out of there."
Black has been open about his drug use in the past, telling Blender magazine in 2008 that he'd experimented with acid, cocaine, heroin and weed.
"In ninth grade, I did acid and cocaine," said Black. "I wanted desperately to be an American badass. There's something so romantic, when you're a kid, about being a criminal. You want to belong to the tough-guy club."
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