Jake - 'Forever, I've always thought I shouldn't make pig noises' - [Update: Jake arrives back at LAX, 16 May]

Whether because of the new halt in filming, or just because it was a planned break, Jake Gyllenhaal arrived back at LAX today, demonstrating like no-one else just what all those hours in the gym can do. Jake looks superb.






Thanks to IHJ for the wonderful new pics.

Now back to the post!

Apparently, David Russell likes to keep a video diary of his projects - just as well, it'll give him something to do during the down time on The Nailed Set and it may prove as comical, if not more so, than the movie itself. Yes, Nailed has come to a halt again, this time because another union has stepped in to ensure that its workers actually get paid for doing their jobs. [By the way, the photographic theme today was suggested by the second part of the post.]


According to Variety last night: 'Members of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical & Stage Employees were ordered by IATSE leaders not to show up at the South Carolina set after not being paid. Capitol Films, which is financing the political comedy, was not immediately available for comment. IATSE also would not comment but a source familiar with the situation said production's expected to resume today.' Let's hope that's the case and work is underway again - after all there are only so many weights Jake Gyllenhaal can be expected to lift during these breaks. But more than anything, this whole affair has shown the importance of the unions - it's outrageous that, half way through the production, members of the crew have still not been paid any of their wages, nor can payment have seemed imminent.


I did like this comment in the New York Post today: 'Brolin's manager, Jeff Wald, vowed to us: "He will get paid. My clients get paid."' Does Wald walk around in a Zoot suit carrying a violin case?


But just before all this trouble, a business analyst at the Columbia Star got an opportunity to experience Nailed at close quarters by being given a job as an extra - he became a political lobbyist. His scene instructions ordered him to 'hustle Gyllenhaal' - 'I was to hide behind the west side columns in the south portico of the Statehouse until I saw the signal to walk out from the columns and down the steps to the halfway landing, whereupon I turned to greet the rising Gyllenhaal and Biel and their entourage. Together we walked to the top of the steps while I tried to explain the better points of my bill in order to hustle Gyllenhaal, just like a lobbyist.'


John Temple Ligon's account includes some marvelling at the amount of money that this shoot must cost - with each scene endlessly repeated and reshot. I don't, however, think this predilection for retakes is confined to Nailed or to its director - after Zodiac, anything less than 40 retakes must seem a bonus to Jake. The account ends with the hope that this film will entice other movies to the state - that's if they ever finish it, of course.


Brokeback's gift to cityboy Jake

Talking of movie production, kind of, in this article, Hollywood writer and producer Rob Long discusses the factors - or rules - that can influence movie execs in their promotion of an actor amongst colleagues and amongst award committees. One may have presumed that Jake was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Brokeback Mountain because he was bloody good in it, but there was more to it than meets the eye:


'And Jake Gyllenhaal, soon after the release of Brokeback Mountain, was especially considerate to me outside a restaurant when our dogs’ leashes became tangled. At the time, my dog was old and sick, and had only a week or so to live. He seemed so genuinely concerned, both for me and my dog, that I immediately began e-mailing all of my actor friends in the Motion Picture Academy to insist that he be nominated for an Oscar. Which he was. Rule two: Be nice to dogs.' [I believe that rule one should state 'Be nice to Jake Gyllenhaal'.]


Jake is a well-known dog lover, but he has said that Brokeback Mountain played a huge role in bringing animals into his life: 'The best thing that I got out of it was I got a dog out of the process. I started riding and I'd always wanted to get a dog and I just thought, 'Well, maybe it's time to get a dog.' I've had an interesting relationship to animals growing up, kind of a distant one. It was a real opportunity to get close to animals, you know, horses, and dogs, and sheep, and I took it on. For a cityboy to be riding a horse, it was great. My dog has changed my life and since then my sister has two cats, may parents have three cats and I have two dogs. Literally since this movie.'


And yet, overshadowed my the much discussed fear that Jake and Heath Ledger are supposed to have felt regarding their love scenes, is Jake's fear of horses, which he overcame during the filming of Brokeback. Apparently, this is what had happened to young Jake: 'It's probably gonna be a pretty awkward movie! When I was little, I fell off a horse, so I've had a fear about that. I made a pig noise. I was on the horse and I thought, for some reason, horses liked when human beings made pig noises on them so I thought to myself, 'Well, why not try it now?' The horse bucked up and threw me off and my foot was still on the saddle. Thank God I was in a ring. It was running around and I was bobbing up and down and my head was almost about to hit the ground. My dad, the hero that he is, stopped the horse and took me off. Forever, I've always thought I shouldn't make pig noises.'



Includes pictures from IHJ and the Columbia Star.