When Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hit cinemas in 2017, the star power hierarchy appeared straightforward: The film reunited Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, known for their bankable success following the comedy Central Intelligence. Positioned within a franchise holding millennial appeal, the film seemed destined for success. While Jack Black and Karen Gillan completed the main cast, making it more than just Johnson and Hart’s comedic chemistry, it was clear that the dynamic duo from hits like San Andreas and Ride Along were the primary draw.

Fast-forward seven and a half years, and that neat hierarchy has blurred. Johnson remains a significant figure, though his credibility has been dented by a slew of mediocre films like Red One. Hart has transitioned more into a digital entrepreneur, meaning he appears less often in traditional films, yet still markets products like energy drinks. Amidst these shifts, Jack Black has emerged as the standout, recently celebrating a triumphant box office debut with A Minecraft Movie. It surpassed previous video-game movie debuts, formerly led by The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which also featured Black’s voice talents. Between these successes, Black also bolstered the performance of Kung Fu Panda 4 last year.

Voice acting, typically viewed differently from live-action roles, offers an exception in Black’s case, as characters like Po from Kung Fu Panda and Bowser in Mario profoundly reflect his exuberant persona. Nonetheless, Minecraft places Black at the forefront in a live-action performance as Steve, the game’s protagonist. While the massive fanbase of the game significantly contributes to the film’s triumph, Black’s presence undoubtedly adds to its appeal, especially for younger audiences, arguably even more so than Dwayne Johnson. Meanwhile, the comedic aspect of the action hero, as seen in Minecraft, is aptly handled by Jason Momoa.

It’s not as if Black has spent his time between Jumanjis and cartoons out-earning his co-stars and building a portfolio of megahits. In fact, he doesn’t spend all that much time with his face on the biggest of screens. In recent years, he’s made movies with indie auteurs Gus Van Sant and Richard Linklater (and the latter gave him an unseen narrator role), done a few cameos, and continued to record and perform with his decidedly not-for-kids comedy rock band Tenacious D (though the band recently paused their activity after Black’s bestie Kyle Gass made an impromptu anti-Trump joke). But at this point, his career has lasted so long that he has a steady supply of back-catalog kid-friendly movies (Goosebumps; Nacho Libre, with Minecraft director Jared Hess), plus genuine classics like School of Rock and Tropic Thunder. He’s essentially built a system where a movie-watcher could age from five to 50, watching along with his movies as they go from all-ages talking-animal romps to videogame-obsessed silliness to teenager-friendly comedies all the way up to the rock nostalgia of the Tenacious D movie and his forays into more grown-up parts in movies like High Fidelity and Linklater’s Bernie. He’s a genuine all-ages star.

Black has accomplished this without nearly the strenuousness of either Johnson or Hart, who make rise-and-grind hustle a part of their sometimes-off-putting public image. (The problem with selling yourself as a high-achieving, always-hustling go-getter is that you look like kind of a dumbass if you’re expending all of that sweat just to make, like, Black Adam or The Man from Toronto.) What he’s achieved instead is a more organic form of dedication.

Despite his lack of grindset preaching, Black never looks as if he’s not trying; in everything from his Saturday Night Live appearances to his press tours to anytime he’s asked to sing any kind of song, he looks like he’s giving it his all, and delighting in the fact that he gets to do this for a living. Since he gained notice as an obsessive, dismissive, and passionately irritating record-store clerk in High Fidelity, he’s had a way with tapping into childishness, whether through petulance or wide-eyed delight. (Part of his High Fidelity genius is the way his petulance becomes a twisted form of delight.) You believe him as a man happily obsessed with the minutiae of Minecraft – and for a few hours at a time, Black, in middle age no less, brings a child’s boundless energy into an adult’s body, a less literal replication of what he does in his Jumanji roles. In his infectious way, he’s giving kids hope for the future.

Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer living in Brooklyn podcasting at www.sportsalcohol.com. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others.