Jack Black and the Wonders of Science The traditional starter's pistol for the statuette race in New York is the Gotham Independent Film Awards, which often honor worthwhile but underseen movies that don't pick up larger prizes and could use the attention. Its category "best films not playing at a theater near you" is but one example. But the Gothams, in addition to being a sort of post-festival circuit reunion for the city's cinema set, also aim to recognize the big fish: prizes have gone to "The Hurt Locker" and "The Tree of Life." And so this year, alongside "Silver Linings Playbook," "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild," a multi-nominee is "Bernie," Richard Linklater's too-little-seen tragi-comedy. Based on the real story of a beloved Carthage, Texas, funeral director (Jack Black) who takes up with and later murders a wealthy widow (Shirley MacLaine), it's nominated for best feature and best ensemble performance. The best actor race at the Oscars is already crowded (see: Day-Lewis, Daniel: Cooper, Bradley; Phoenix, Joaquin; Washington, Denzel; and Jackman, Hugh, to mention just a few), so Mr. Black is unlikely to have a shot there. But he may be more successful at the Golden Globes, in its musical/comedy category. "Bernie," incidentally, has both. So the studio behind it, Millennium Entertainment, put together a little cocktail party in New York not long ago, for actor and filmmaker to talk up their work. We caught up with Mr. Black just as he was extolling the wonders of sci-fi and the harder sciences. "I'm just into the fact that the universe is so mind-bendingly large and we're so infinitesimally tiny," he was saying. We're almost inexplicably tiny, in the face of the magnitude. I never get tired of that meditation. Mr. Black also has a thing for quantum physics, "but only quantum physics for dummies," he said. "I'll go on YouTube and check into Captain Quantum," a science cartoon for kids. "It's the only way that I can grasp any of the concepts," he said. But to know that the building blocks of our existence are completely surreal is of great comfort to me. "I'm not a spiritual person," he added. I'm an atheist, but you get really deep into the science of weirdness, that is kind of like spirituality. This, dear readers, was the first minute-and-a-half of our conversation. A waiter came by with a tray of deviled eggs and Mr. Black grabbed a few. "That's the perfect low-carb snack," he said, explaining that he was dieting. I just started today so don't look at me and go like, 'It's not working.' Give me a chance. "I've been trying to drop a couple LBs" -- he actually said that, not pounds -- "for a long time," he continued, "and it very frustratingly hard because I'm so" - he cursed - "hungry." Mr. Black was, fortuitously, the right body type to play Bernie Tiede - Mr. Linklater noted that they had a physical resemblance - and his star picked up more similarities when they visited Mr. Tiede in prison, where he is serving a life sentence. "He was like a sponge, he soaked it up," Mr. Linklater said of Mr. Black. The walk, every little nuance. From the outset, Mr. Linklater was attracted to the story, which first appeared in Texas Monthly magazine: he followed the trial in Texas, and has kept up a correspondence with Mr. Tiede. But for Mr. Black, visiting the prison was a first. "It was interesting to see how scary it is," he said. It was especially fascinating to see Bernie in that environment; he didn't belong there. It's like, imagine the sweetest guy you know now in the --" cursing "-- prison with the most scary tattooed dudes that like to murder people. It's just incongruous and that's what was fascinating about this story to Rick, was how could this most beloved guy in town do this horrible thing. Mr. Black's characters - like the teacher in "School of Rock," also directed by Mr. Linklater - often start off as scoundrels and grow likable by the closing credits. Not so in "Bernie." "That was the thing that almost kept me from doing it," Mr. Black said. I was very worried about that. It's not my comfort zone. I don't like playing gray areas or characters that are, you know, are they likable or not? I don't know, he did this despicable thing. So it was tough, but in the end how could I say no? Working with Rick again and when I really read it and looked at the character there was a lot of great opportunities in there to play some different colors. His director was not surprised that Mr. Black pulled it off. "There's a part of Jack though, I know, that he's kind of a nonconfrontational, want-to-get-along kind of guy in real life," Mr. Linklater said. He likes playing these raging guys, but he's really a sweetheart. Bernie sort of taps into that element of him. Aside from the pit stop on the awards trail, Mr. Linklater spent the fall working on a film for next summer, as well as the latest in his "Before Sunrise" series, called "Before Midnight." Mr. Black was on tour with his band, Tenacious D, promoting their latest album, of jazz (!). Along with career honorees Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard and David O. Russell, the "Bernie" director and star are due at the Gothams tonight, where, win or lose, the rapport between Mr. Black and the event's host, the comedian and actor Mike Birbiglia, should rival that of Patton Oswalt and Charlize Theron last year. We will be live-tweeting the proceedings here, so follow along for the winners and latest on Mr. Black's low-carb snacking.