Share a take with Jake and 'what drew me to a rabbit-centered movie'

If you live near Sante Fe, New Mexico, and you're reading this, then you shouldn't be. You should be joining the crowds of men, women and children to audition for a paid part in Brothers. This isn't a David Fincher film, so you won't have the enviable task of repeating a scene with Jake 60 times, but maybe you could share a take with Jake.


The details: 'The film "Brothers", starring Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, and Jake Gyllenhaal is having an open casting call for extras Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007 from 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Santa Fe, 4048 Cerrillos Rd. Producers are looking for hundreds of men, women and children, all ages and types, to work as paid extras in the film. The movie is directed by Jim Sheridan ("Get Rich or Die Tryin'", "In America", "In the Name of the Father", "The Boxer").'


That's what drew me to a rabbit-centered movie

As previously mentioned, Donnie Darko is featured on UK TV tonight (BBC2, 9.30pm) and, to mark the occasion of having Jake on British mainstream television (it doesn't happen everyday), I've been doing some looking around... In 2001, when Jake was at the Sundance Festival, he participated in an online chat along with Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly. The interview was hosted by the Washington Post's Sharon Waxman and took place early in the morning. Although the transcript says that the answer came from Richard, reading the context shows that it was instead probably Jake who admitted to participating in the interview while wearing his pajamas.

As with every Jake interview, Jake spoils us and it is hard to restrict one's favourite quotes, so here are just a few. 'Since I was a little kid I always wanted to act, and because of family friends such as Billy Crystal, I started acting in small parts in movies like "City Slickers" in 5th grade. I was the cow... That's what drew me to a rabbit-centered movie like Donnie Darko.'


Richard: You're the one with the dark last name Donnie.
Jake: You created him.
Richard: You dyed your hair black, dude.
Jake: I just showed up and read the lines. Maybe that day I showed up with my hair dyed black, you were really freaking out, but you were calm about the whole thing -'Could we make this just a little lighter, please?"...
Sharon: Why freak out because you dyed your hair?
Jake: Because it's Donnie Darko, not Donnie Dark-hairo. I'm not a cartoon character.

'With material like this you have to take a jump, maybe even a dive, into what looks like a very rocky bottom, but when or if it succeeds, it is extremely fulfilling, perhaps even more fulfilling because of the mystery of it all. And that regardless of price, or time, or name value and all that, is what independent filmmaking is all about. So I would say this is a truly independent film, without having to be called 'arthouse.''


'I had a few comments from people... a wonderful comment from a girl right after the first showing of the film at the Eccles Theater. She said her brother was manic-depressive, and some of my actions in the film and goings on my character talks about, really touched her in a way similar to her brother's experience. On the other side, a guy in the bathroom came up and said, 'Wow man, you play a really nice psycho.' Which seems like an oxymoron, but I guess it's possible. There are people who come up and say, 'I don't get this, or that, but I was really moved.' There's a point in the movie where you have to let your mind go, and abandon what you want to happen, and have faith that what you're feeling is right. And whatever you're feeling it's the right one. That's what a successful film should do.'


'I'm a huge fan [of David Lynch]. The scene in 'Lost Highway' where the man with no eyebrows has a cellphone... what's interesting about David Lynch especially, which is very similar to style in which Richard works - the somewhat conventional, mainstream style of camera-work that Spielberg incorporates, Richard incorporated into a totally unconventional and strange world, that is the world of Donnie Darko. So what you get is this very interesting juxtaposition of character and story, and it's very similar to what many directors including Lynch are trying to do, with making 'Lost Highway' and then 'The Straight Story.''


'It may be idealistic given the cynicism.... but it's just the truth. Nothing can beat talent. It really can't. Look at what Robert Downey Jr.'s going through; he still has support of the film community, because there's talent, and he's truthful in every performances he gives.'

Jake: We went through a hair thing with Donnie Darko and it ended up dark brown. I dyed it pitch black, blue-black for my next movie, "The Bubble Boy" (I totally recommend it). I just love dying my hair. Like Guy Pearce in "Memento" - he has beach blonde hair.
Richard: The depth of this discussion is what Sundance is all about.
Jake: You don't understand the plight of an actor. You have to change people's opinions of you, and if it means dying your hair - that's the independent spirit.
Sharon: You don't get the Hollywood and Vine discussion without a little hair talk.


'I don't normally plug so much, but if you get a chance to see this movie, see it again and again and again. Even being involved in it, in almost every scene, it's an amazing thing to watch. You'll constantly be surprised. It's a f--'in awesome journey.'

To get you more in the mood for a Donnie Darko evening, wherever you live, here are a couple of videos. In the first, Jake is interviewed by Channel One about his efforts to believe what Donnie saw, wanting Donnie to appear 'seemingly sane'. In the second, Jake thanks the cast and crew for their 28-day experience and gives them a little dance.


And finally

Gratuitously, I have to post this Esquire picture again. I am unable not to.


Includes pictures from IHJ and Esquire.