Word of American comedian and actor Jack Black's appearance on the popular Korean variety program Infinite Challenge has been the talk of K-pop this week. Crossovers like this between Western and Korean media are always popular points of conversation. But how much does it cost to have a star this huge on a program this popular?
In the case of Jack Black, nothing at all.
On February 1, Ilgan Sports revealed the surprising news that Jack Black made his Infinite Challenge appearance for free!
Black, who arrived in Korea on January 20 to promote his latest movie Kung Fu Panda 3, chose to show his fans extra appreciation by dedicating his time on January 21 to filming for Infinite Challenge.
"The original plan was to promote the movie," Black's manager explained. "With a short schedule of two days and one night, most stars just attend a press conference and leave but Jack Black took on filming for Infinite Challenge for free."
The American star is earning extra praise for how friendly he appeared to be with the Infinite Challenge members and his willingness to learn about the format of Korean variety shows. The show's producer Kim Tae Ho also commented on how the difficulties first presented soon were no problem at all. "There were communication difficulties and we were limited on time," Kim explained. "Jack Black was so committed to the show, however, that our concerns were unnecessary and time was not an issue."
In the end, both Black and the members of Infinite Challenge shared their hopes that they would be able to reunite again in the future.
Black also appeared on a recent episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and discussed his Korean variety show experience.
