In shape and far from home - Jake gets ready

We can all heave a big sigh of relief - not least Jake Gyllenhaal - because, according to The State today, Nailed has wrapped. Whether or not, this film will ever see the light of day is another matter, not helped by the production company, Think Film, having their office as good as boarded up in Toronto. Time will tell. Meanwhile, I just hope Jake has some much needed fun on the set of the Prince of Persia.


So, at the end of July, Jake will be back off to Morocco to begin filming. At least, with his previous visit for Rendition so recent, he shouldn't need any more immunisations. But I'm reminded of this article, from the Rendition days, when Jake spoke about filming far from home: '“For me, being far away from home is a learning experience,” he explains. “This was shot in North Africa, in a different country with a lot of different rules, and I felt very isolated. It was a very good thing for me. You need to ostracize yourself to learn.”'


This is also one of my alltime favourite articles, because of this - it is always worth a revisit: 'Y"ou look like a nice mint chocolate chip cookie,” he suggests in reaction to the mint green blouse and a dark brown skirt I am wearing. “I do?” I ask, blushing and feeling like a 14-year-old. At my advanced age, it really does take a great actor to make me feel that way. “That’s my favorite flavor, so I’ll take that as a compliment,” I offer. ““You should – that’s my favorite flavor too,” he replies.'


'Now I’m totally flustered. As a mature professional, I like to think I can handle any curve ball that’s thrown my way, but Gyllenhaal is looking at me with his adorable blue eyes and incredibly long eyelashes. “Okay, where do we go from here?” I say, stalling for time while I try to recollect my next question. “Let’s just talk about ice cream,” he offers, oozing boyish charm.'


Jake is back in shape, reminding me of his Jarhead days, although, fortunately, with a full head of hair (with the potential of going the other way and having too much hair, thanks to a headful of extensions). Back in 2005, Jake discussed the tough regime he endured to be in top Marine shape for Jarhead: '"Physically, I was ready for all the running after I killed myself working out, but then mentally it started," he explained. "The first night of boot camp, I got an hour and a half worth of sleep."


"I woke up in the middle of the night because I later found out Lucas Black had thrown a bottle in the air and it hit me on the head when I was sleeping. Those things were constantly happening and, by the end of that week, I had gotten cumulatively 10 hours of sleep. My head was in such a weird space." He added, "I had a 10-and-a-half wide and a 10-and-a-half regular [boot size] and I had loaned one of the guys my 10-and-a-half wide boots. I thought my other boots would stretch and it would be fine but I was standing there for two and a half hours and my left shin was hurting so badly."' Fortunately, Prince of Persia will require far fewer clothes, ill-fitting or otherwise.


Includes pictures from IHJ and fotolog.