Maggie doing her bit - Hope for Nailed - and Sir Ben: 'I think it's going to be huge fun for a lot of kids'

During what must have been a difficult week for the Gyllenhaal family, Jake and Maggie have been keeping themselves occupied - Jake, with continuing to shoot the epic Prince of Persia just outside London, and Maggie by play readings and doing her bit for the Obama ticket as well as for a bipartisan campaign to get first-time teenage voters into the polling booths. We've already seen Peter's video for 18 in 08 and now here is Maggie's.


On Wednesday, Maggie could be found in Long Island - more precisely, at the Creative Coalition's Pre-Presidential hospitality suite at the Marriott in Uniondale. Alongside Matthew Modine, Maggie hosted an event focused on America's healthcare crisis.


Also this week, as previously mentioned here, Maggie took part in a First Look reading for the Classic Stage Company on 13th Street, NYC: 'These First Look readings - which take place after only an afternoon's worth of rehearsal time - serve mainly as impromptu artistic experiments, whereby the theatre company can mount classic texts in front of paying audiences in order to explore their viability as possible full productions in future Classic Stage season lineups.' Maggie partook in what is not an easy offering: 'Brecht's moral melodrama The Good Person of Sezuan'.


This is how one review describes Maggie's performance - and if someone can translate, I'd be grateful... 'In a distinctly modern choice, Gyllenhaal made the Jekyll-and-Hyde transition from kind, altruistic Shen Te to cutthroat Shui Ta by donning a pair of sunglasses as well as widening her gait and loosening her swagger. Nevertheless, her warm vocal inflections changed only minimally, making the acceptance of her dual personalities amongst the townspeople with whom she comes in regular contact somewhat implausible. This could be a strength or weakness, depending on how one looks at the play. Is it preferable that Shen Te's moral deception be one largely accepted by an oblivious public or a construction of her fundamentally corrupted internal nature?' Er, yes! Or, no.


And what of Maggie's brother? While Jake himself appears to have been head down, hard at work this week (like many more of us, I'm sure), there have been some little bits of 'news' on his films. Firstly, could it be that there is hope for Nailed? According to this new report at Hollywood Reporter, some 'elements' of ThinkFilm - which is as dead as an upside down duck - may be taken over by a newly formed distribution company to be formed by David Bergstein, financier of ThinkFilm and Capitol Films, and to be led by 'former New Line theatrical distribution president David Tuckerman.'


According to this report, Nailed, surely a prized asset, is to be included in the 'initial slate' for distribution. Fingers crossed that we may still see Immoral Congressman Jake before we fall off the perch.


Meanwhile, Ben Kingsley - sorry, Sir Ben Kingsley - has been talking a little bit more about his villainous role in the Prince of Persia during his attendance at a special screening of Gandhi in Abu Dhabi, UAE. 'I play such a mean guy, but my task is to smile and smile and be a villain. I'm the politest and most gentle baddie you've ever seen on screen, until the closing scene of the film when I become extremely violent. I think it's going to be huge fun for a lot of kids.' And not just little kids either...


Includes pictures from IHJ and Maggie-Gyllenhaal.net.