Jake: 'If you put me in mud, you'd see how much fun I could have' [Updated]

If I gave you three guesses who was on the cover of October's edition of Interview Magazine, I think one would do. Yes, Jake Gyllenhaal is the star attraction and, not only is he featured on the cover, but he is interviewed inside the magazine by none other than David Fincher. If any more proof were needed that the 'strange cinematic love affair' (Jake's words, not mine) between these two survived the exhausting process of Zodiac, then this is it.


I have not yet got a copy - being on the wrong side of the Atlantic Ocean - but I have been sent some extracts by a good friend on the right side of the pond who received one at her office yesterday - thank you BKay! So hot off the presses, here are some extracts from the interview:


'You should do this in drag' - 'Fantastic!'

Jake: we're being recorded.
David Fincher: Exactly, so be very careful. By the way, I finally saw your SNL which I thought was awesome- balls-out one of the funniest moments I've seen on that show in a long time.
Jake: Thanks. I figured, if you're going to do it, then really do it.
David: Well, you did it, and now no one ever has to do it again. (Both laugh) Somebody sent it to me on DVD because I missed it and everyone was talking about it. ..
Jake:...They played the song, we practised it a couple times, and Lorne came up to me and said "You should do this in drag. What do you think?" And I was like 'Fantastic!" And that was it.


Rendition: 'This isn't some liberal movie or some conservative movie'

Jake: There's not just one side to the story, this isn't some liberal movie or some conservative movie - it shows both sides pretty clearly. At first my character doesn't really know what's going on one way or the other, but after a while he discovers what's what. At first, even with all this stuff happening, he supports what they're doing because he's in the CIA. But after a while he realizes it just doesn't work. It's not even a question of whether the guy did what he's been accused of or not - you're just not going to get accurate information from somebody when you're torturing them to the point where they'll tell you whatever you want to hear.


'I really want to work though... Let's buckle down and get to it'

Jake: I think there are a lot of people who don't learn how to grow up, so I'm in a place now where I feel like the decisions I make will be really good...
David: So now you're like "I feel confident that I'm in a place in my life where I probably, in all seriousness, would have never met you, David." (laughs).."I'm feeling so good about myself that I would have instantly turned down that last script you sent me."
Jake: Shut up...
David (laughs)..No, I know what you mean...
Jake: I really want to work though. I'm so excited to be in a place where I'm like, "Let's buckle down and get to it"... That's where I find myself, and being antsy to commit 100 percent is a great place to be as an artist. That's where you always want to be...


'Running is a really good antidote for a mind that tends to spin round a lot'

Jake: Well, we were shooting that in the middle of a desert outside of Marrakesh, and I'd go running a lot. I imagine that as a director, when you're filming, every possible second of your time is filled. But as an actor you have so much free time your mind wanders. Running is a really good antidote for a mind that tends to spin around a lot.
David: Yes, and you do tend to obsess a lot, too. This is the idea for me: I don't want to obsess at work. I want to take it home or out into the desert so that while I run I can do, Idiot, why did you say that? (laughs) People try to get me to meditate, and all I do is sit there thinking. You should have started this so much earlier. You have so much meditating to do that you'll never catch up now.
Jake: That's exactly how I think, too. Maybe that's why you and I have this strange cinematic love affair. Did you get my message that I think we should do a Civil War movie together?
David: Yeah. I like that. I know nothing about the Civil War, but every time I see a movie about it, I'm like, Wow, that really happened?
Jake: I thought you'd really be into it.
David: You thought I would appreciate having a group of miserable, blood-covered actors standing knee-deep in mud.
Jake: See, if you put me in mud, you'd see how much fun I could have. But seriously, they did crazy stuff in that way - really dark stuff like engaging in hand-to-hand combat and tearing each other's throats out.
David: But I'm over that kind of stuff. (sarcastically) I want to make stories about love and communication...


So, what do we have?

These little glimpses, from an interview I can't wait to read, reveals a man who can laugh at himself, who has a great deal of affection for his past director (and receives it in return), who runs because he thinks about things too much, and who knows he wants to work and is dedicated to it, 100%. There's also something strangely appealing about Jake acting in a Civil War uniform... Who knows what we'll find in the rest.

I hear that the interview is accompanied by three pages or so of pictures of Jake - in action - including photographs of Jake chopping wood and, I believe, fishing, holding a bicycle and rowing a boat. Unfortunately, I have yet to see these and have only seen a poor version of the cover. Hopefully, they will be online soon. In the meantime, this feature will have to include other gorgeous shots of Jake - a hardship, I know.


If anyone out there can scan the article for me and email it to me, I would be more grateful than I can say. Thanks to BKay again!

Update No 1: Stephanie at I Heart Jake found a better photograph of the issue than I'd seen so, thanks to her, and here it is til we get a better one. Note how Jake's called 'The hottest bachelor in America'!


Update number 2: I have just been told how the article begins:
He's been called everything from brave to focused to just plain obsessive, but for Moviedom's athletically inclined, politically minded man of action, it's 100 percent or nothing. Director David Fincher catches up with the actor whose moment is right now.

Later on...
At 6 feet tall Jake Gyllenhaal is that rare breed of movie star; an actor who's actually bigger in life than he appears onscreen. One reason might be that when Gyllenhaal fills the frame, so much of one's attention is focused on his eyes; another might be that until recently Gyllenhaal's roles called for him to portray boyish figures on the cusp of manhood. In this month's Rendition, however, that youthful, wide-eyed innocence comes face to face with some ugly realities... it may prove the final leap from Indie Heartthrob to leading man, a process he began with 2005's Jarhead and Brokeback Mountain, the latter of which earned him his first Oscar nomination.

Includes pictures from IHJ.