'What do you mean by that?' - Jake Gyllenhaal's 'challenging' and 'difficult' interview

A Jake Gyllenhaal interview dating from the Brothers LA Press Conference at the start of the month has been released in the Herald and it has a curious theme: 'Jake Gyllenhaal has a reputation for being difficult'. You only have to hover your cursor over the image in the interview and that's what it tells you. And it begins with a proclamation: 'The 28-year-old star who plays a lowlife in Jim Sheridan's latest movie Brothers has, in fact, no interest whatsoever in playing down his reputation which, even in Hollywood, is euphemistically described as "challenging".'


They go on... 'By all accounts, there was palpable tension on the set between Gyllenhaal, and, not only the director, but also his co-star Tobey Maguire, perhaps in part because both of them grew up in the Hollywood fishbowl.' I'm wondering where all these accounts can be found, because all I've heard from Jim Sheridan is that he had a little trouble getting used to Jake's freeform acting style and that Jake had some difficulty showing aggression (as did Natalie Portman), and that is it.


Having read the vast majority of articles about Jake Gyllenhaal, throughout his career, I'm also not too sure where this charge of 'challenging' and 'difficult' comes from. From the David Fincher days? Just look at the respect there. If the fact that Jake has picked his films for their directors, to learn his craft from a breadth of angles and sometimes finding the task difficult and yet still pulling positives from the experience is being 'challenging', then maybe that's what it takes to make an actor who has the range and depth and courage of Jake Gyllenhaal.


Judging from Jake's words rather than the journalist's preconceptions, it would appear that Jim Sheridan could be perceived as a challenge - not that Jake levels such a criticism at him. It would also appear that there was tension between Jake and his onscreen brother Tobey Maguire but that was on both sides and it sounds intentional and fostered for the film.


'"Working with Jim was a beautiful mess," he kicks off, laughing. "I am not sure what happened or how it came together, but it was a really interesting mess. One day there's a PA who he's brought over who brought coffee, and there she is sitting behind the monitor and he's asking her what she thinks of the scene! Then we're changing the dialogue according to what she thinks of the scene!" He shakes his head as though still incredulous at Sheridan's style. "The next day, some guy he met on a plane he invites to the set and rewrites the dialogue for him! It's a whole real interesting mess with Jim, but it turns out to be a good result in the end, so... "'

'"There's nothing that I do that doesn't relate to my family," he says, somewhat less abrasively. "I think this is why with Jim ultimately, although I may have been a complicated person to work with at times, I think we share a lot in common in that way. My father and I definitely have an interesting and complex relationship."'


While happy to make fun of Sheridan's modus operandi, Gyllenhaal is reluctant to talk about the almost incestuous fishbowl syndrome of Hollywood, in which he and Tobey Maguire grew up, going to the same schools and parties, even dating the same actresses and models... "There are all these interesting rumours that fly around about Tobey Maguire and myself and it was so long ago at this point. Our relationship on Brothers definitely was awkward, but respectful as a result," he eventually admits. "Things unsaid went into the process of making this movie. I admire Tobey's career, I always have. But there was undoubtedly competition and people have mistaken me for him throughout the years. But I'm always game for complications, and this was one that Jim helped engineer."'


'Given how critical he is of Sheridan's working style, would he work with him again? "Oh yes, definitely," he says emphatically. And given how difficult Sheridan admits to having found Gyllenhaal to work with, does he think he would get asked back onto one of Sheridan's sets. The question really bothers him. "What do you mean by that? I have great respect for Jim and it's important that you respect someone's work. The work is not always the same as who they are as a person and navigating that is always difficult and there are lots of different egos and personalities in this business," he says, seeming both hurt and defensive.'


'"I don't mean to wear the fact that I like to challenge people as a badge of honour. I think that's something I've moved beyond. I was born into the film industry and all of us grow up thinking we have a perspective on film-making that's different from the job. But only very recently I realised that film-making is a collaborative process. When I was younger I had an idea that I was the actor there to do the job. For somebody who's gotten to the place where they are directing or writing a movie, they have to have a pretty interesting personality to be doing that. So I realise now that I am in service of somebody else's vision and I think it's changed the whole situation."'

I kind of get the feeling that the interviewer was missing the point and fully deserved Jake's 'What do you mean by that?'.


Congratulations to the cast of An Education for their success in the SAG nominations announced today. You'll be hard pressed to find Brothers on the list. There was slightly more success with the Golden Globes and the Chicago Critics Nominations. Includes picture from link.