Jake - from boy to man

Today, I've been thinking about the painful night that was the 78th Academy Awards, prompted by two new photographs of Jake's rehearsal for the event which can be found at IHeartJake. In the closing weeks of 2005, speculation mounted that Jake Gyllenhaal was not only in with a possible chance for his portrayal of Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain, but also for his Anthony Swofford in Jarhead. As we all know, Jake received the nomination for Jack Twist - and I think we can all remember how it turned out.



We can speculate about the extent to which this was a disappointment to Jake, especially when that night is contrasted to the obvious joy that Jake felt at the BAFTAs when the vote did go his way. However, Jake suggested in an interview at the close of 2005, that an Oscar buzz is an inevitable consequence of working with directors such as Ang Lee and Sam Mendes, indicating a philosophical attitude he may have needed. "There's a lot of talk about things like that when you're working with a director like Ang Lee or when you're working with Sam Mendes because they are inevitably two Oscar winning directors, so it's inevitable that people attach those things to those projects. For me I feel like all that I have as an actor is the process., Peter said something to me after we finished the movie: it's a very odd profession, a profession where you give a performance and then a year later people commend you on the performance but it's really odd to separate yourself from that because it's so far from what you've done."


"All I can speak of is the process and in that both Sam and Ang have changed my life regardless of the result of any of these films, I'm so happy with the response that has happened with Brokeback Mountain so far, just so far, and we're just sort of beginning how people are responding to this movie but to me the processes of both movies have changed my life and that's what I take away with me and everything else is just fun, and it's a laugh kind of sometimes and it feeds the ego."


Elsewhere Jake discusses the transformation that he went during the filming of Jarhead, during which time Sam Mendes said Jake went from boy to man. "Well the main difference is I started the movie with no hair on my body and then I seem to get hair all over my body. With Sam it was like we went through a pretty, I wouldn't say rigorous but it was a long process of him casting me. It wasn't really like rigorous necessarily but at least in my mind, you know I went through a lot of things and I really wanted to do the part from the beginning, so I was into it, and along the way, thought at times I wasn't going to get it."


"So for me, he put me through a long process and by the time he cast me I think he was pretty sure he wanted me to play the part. And in wanting me to play the part, I think he accepted that he wanted me, like for me and for the things I had inside of me, in me and he saw that there were things that probably other people, other directors hadn't seen before and he wanted to push. So I feel that's part of what being or becoming a man is, you know, in knowing that the choices that you make you have a good enough conscious time to do that, what ever you do will be alright."

So, if it hadn't have been for Sam Mendes and Jarhead, we would have a Jake without body hair. For that alone, Sam deserved a Oscar.

Interestingly, elsewhere in the interview, Jake says he's reading Joan Didion's The Year Of Magical Thinking, and listening to Kanye West and Jamie Foxx. [Thanks very much to a friend for the correction on this book title - that makes much more sense!]


Agent Provocateur

On 1 September, Maggie Gyllenhaal steps into the shoes (although perhaps shoes are not the most apposite item of dress here) as model for Agent Provocateur's lingerie. This is great news as it signals a move away from the ridiculously skinny and ethereal to the sexy and intelligent.


Includes pictures from IHJ.