'At the end of the day, it's Jake' - another incredible Prince of Persia day on the trail of Jake Gyllenhaal

Are you ready?! PoP Tuesday ranks high in my list of memorable days, but all that is as sand compared to the gold dust that is PoP Wednesday, so intense and overflowing it is in all the wonders that make up Jake Gyllenhaal, Prince of Persia. Normally, I advise readers to settle down with some refreshments for a whopper post, but tonight I need them, so hand them over. Without any more ado (except for the ado in the next paragraph), please may I present you with my favourite interview to date from the PoP Season.


This interview by Bonnie Laufer, who has interviewed Jake many times over the years, has it all - wit, charm, an extraordinarily handsome and big-eyed Jake, ostrich talk and a discussion of my favourite programme, The Amazing Race. Speaking as someone who goes through life saying 'You'd make a lousy Amazing Race partner' or 'You'd make a brilliant Amazing Race partner' while simply conducting everyday tasks (it's my measuring stick), it made my heart pound to hear Jake discuss who would be his TAR partner. I've always thought that Jake Gyllenhaal would not necessarily make a good Amazing Race partner, but now I feel that maybe I have been over hasty. Jake also talks about one of my favourite movies in recent years, Beowulf.



I'm not that familiar with American TV talk shows - I'm not that familiar with British talk shows - but this morning Jake appeared on Regis and Kelly, which always puzzles me every time Jake is on it. Admittedly I have only ever seen it when Jake is on it, but I am always left bewildered. Neverthless, great to see Jake on TV and thanks to IHJ for capturing it for us!




Jake spent yesterday in Canada - expect more from that in the coming days due to some very exciting happenings in the WDW camp - and amongst the goodies are a teaser from The Hour and a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest. You can listen to that here. The post is full of pictures from this incredible day when Jake Gyllenhaal did appear on 9 out of 10 Canadian TV and radio programmes, notably eTalk. You can see another interview with Jake on CTV here. Jake describes the great comfort he received from Mike Newell about The Accent 'If you sound like a fool, we'll just nod our heads.' There are other interviews scattered throughout this post.



USA Today - the accent: '"Because of the intimidation factor of working with Sir Ben (Kingsley) and Alfred Molina and a cast of British actors, I just buckled down pretty intensely three months before we began and did the most ridiculous exercises with one of the best dialect coaches, Barbara Berkery, who worked with Renee Zellweger on Bridget Jones and Gwyneth (Paltrow) on Sliding Doors... I was awful," he says. "Well, maybe not awful. But any slight variation of a British accent is awful. I started embarrassing myself in front of everybody. I would say to the cast, 'If there's something that sounds strange, just stop me and tell me.'" Taking him at his word, he heard frequently from co-star Gemma Arterton, who plays the feisty Princess Tamina, whose kingdom is conquered by the army of Prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal). "My relationship with Gemma in the movie is very similar to ours in real life," he says. "So, sure enough, she would stop me every five seconds: 'It's horrible. Do it like this.'"


'He opted for full linguistic immersion. "I decided to speak with a British accent from the moment I got out of the car in the morning throughout the entire day until the moment I got back in the car." Not usually a Method actor, Gyllenhaal says the initial adjustment was awkward. "It felt weird," he says. "But the thing with anything is getting over the embarrassment of it. Probably if you walked around naked enough, it wouldn't be embarrassing. That's what it felt like for a while... We had so many different regions represented by our crew, my accent would change depending on who I talked to," Gyllenhaal says. "I'd talk to a camera guy from South London, then speak on camera and Mike (Newell) would say: 'Where are you from? You've drifted south!'" But, in time, Gyllenhaal's transformation was complete. "When we were in London for the premiere a couple weeks ago, people were like 'Stop talking in that weird American accent' because they were used to how I talked on set," he says.'


New Zealand Close Up talks to Jake here. You can also see some of PoP pop Jordan Mechner's drawings from Moscow on his blog. Really interesting to see and some fun insights into what the trip to Russia was like and how hard it can be capturing the likeness of beautiful and animated people such as Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton.


Prince of Persia - Exclusive Jake Gyllenhaal Interview - The funniest movie is here. Find it

A great interview in the UK Metro today. Some tasty snippets... 'I believe food is health. I believe food can be medicine and how we eat and grow our food is a direct reflection of our culture and at the same time can also heal us. My best friend is a farmer and I have grown up eating food that is farmed near to me. So, naturally, cooking became something that I did. My family always cooked and I just sort of took it up and found a real meditation and grace to it. It’s a way of expressing, in my opinion, love. And so, any way that I can do that, I try and get really good at.'


'I couldn’t tell you how much I respect the British accent and how much I know you British respect the British accent, and I recognise all the wonderful qualities and politeness that is the British culture. I know Brits can be tough on that too in all seriousness. So it was a challenge and it was something that had stopped me doing other roles in the past because I thought: ‘I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I can pull it off’. [Did you pick up any British expressions?] Oh my God yes. ‘You know what? You f***ing know what?’ That’s my favourite.' I love how Jake recognises and likes Brit culture, especially our politeness which, I think, you can detect in Jake's favourite Brit expression.


'As I get a little older I definitely believe in destiny. I said to someone the other day: ‘Before in my life I could really only look forward. Now I’m a little older I have perspective forwards and backwards’. And with the perspective of looking backwards really comes the foundation of the idea that we really do have some kind of destiny.'


'[Are you worried about being so much more exposed after Prince Of Persia?] I don’t know but it’s all done now. The thing is when you’re making a movie you’re making a movie and then all of a sudden the choices have some resonance outside of it. To me, whatever happens happens. I really am proud of this movie.'

'[Calvin Klein designer Kevin Carrigan says the whole autumn 2010 men’s collection was designed with you in mind.] I’ve never even been to a Calvin Klein fashion show. I’m not normally a vain person but I do like the clothes I wear. I think that stuff is important. [Are you good enough at kung fu to be your own bodyguard?] Not yet but I’m getting there. [What is romantic to you?] Anything can be romantic if you’re with the right person, I guess. I’m kind of shy you know.' Read more here.


Jake is also in the Canadian Metro: 'I really liked it. I’ve just done two movies smaller in size and that was a wonderful thing to do for me after this one, because I did need to feed other aspects of my skill set. It’s a kind of drug, when you’re jumping over things, fighting people, looking like a badass ... it’s hard not to want to do it again.'


'[Were you expecting so much buzz on your buffing up?] Well ... it wasn’t made on vanity. It was on a functionality, to try to make all those stunts. There’s been some curious approaches like: “Oh, you did those stunts, cool. But how do you look like that!?” Someone asked me: “How did that make you feel?” I was like: “I pretty much felt the same inside, you know!” (laughs) My strength, inside, the most important, comes from a lot of other different pain. [Would you like to direct?] Yeah. I’m almost 30, so ... it is becoming less presumptuous.'



In another article in USA Today: 'I was most scared about the big jumps," he says. "As we got farther and deeper into shooting, five months into shooting, we were trying stuff. There's a jump I do where there's like a 20-foot gap between two buildings and a pretty significant drop, like 35 feet, which terrified even the stunt guys... The scariest scene in the movie is when Alfred Molina kisses an ostrich," he says. "They are terrifying animals. Anything with a brain the size of a pea and claws that can tear your face apart is really scary... I've worked with wolves in movies (on The Day After Tomorrow), and on this set they treated ostriches like wolves," he says. "They literally told us they've been known to rip off people's faces. So when Fred kisses the ostrich, to me that performance is braver than Robert De Niro in Raging Bull."'


'"It was incredibly technical, down to the crowds and sword fighting," he says. "I did the sword fights thousands of times. I was a complete idiot at the beginning. I had no previous experience, and in fact I have two left feet, so the balance of being able to fight with two swords took a long time to learn." But Newell says that Gyllenhaal was not only the film's muscle, but its emotional core. "With video (game adaptations), you're always looking for the human equivalent," Newell says. "You need an actor who can almost breathe emotion. I knew from Brokeback Mountain (Gyllenhaal) could do that. And it didn't hurt that he could build that kind of physique and look good on a horse."' Much more here.



Jake Gyllenhaal has charmed the socks off interviewers globally during these fantastic weeks leading up to the release of Prince of Persia and, time upon time, journalists habve reported how Jake won them over. Many of us have enjoyed Jake's effortless and eminently likeable charm for years, but now, thanks to the world of Disney, we can see others learn for themselves what a delight Jake is. This interview is an example.


'[Is it hard to be a movie star?] God, man - it is so hard! You think about jobs and it's probably right up with the hardest ones around! I can read that in print now ... So please, insert the irony that's needed in that. How hard is this job? It's a great job. You could catch me on days where I'm like, "Urgh", but most days, it's good. [Your family is in show business. Was there an option not be an actor?] No, actually. There was never an option! Help me! [What movie made you want to be an actor?] There isn't a movie. I told you, I came out acting at birth. There were no movies in the womb. I was born in the atrium of a film agency. The agents pulled me out themselves! "We've got him! Ten per cent!" The agents know how to search wombs to find for talent.'


'[What went through your mind when Jerry Bruckheimer called you to do this movie?] I asked him what it was going to be like, and he said: "You're going to have a lot of say in who your character is and what he's like." And I said I wanted to have long hair and he said: "Have you seen Nicolas Cage in all my movies?" No, he was open to our ideas. And I think that's what made him successful. He follows what he believes is exciting. And it's not always the obvious choice. I believe that's cool ... It's pretty ballsy of him. [Were there any Spinal Tap moments making the movie?] You mean, just primarily because of my hair? Well, this isn't quite Spinal Tap, but there was a moment when I hit the cinematographer by mistake. He had a hand-held camera and I was fighting in the scene and he was like: "Get in real close." And I got too close and smacked him in the face - with a rubber sword. [Did you whistle the Indiana Jones theme?] Yeah! A couple of times! I can't really tell the difference between Indiana Jones and the Star Wars theme, though.'


'[Would you prefer doing more action movies now?] What I prefer more and more now is a little more humour and taking myself less seriously. But I do believe life is full of different things and variety is the spice of life, so I would love to do both kinds of movies. With Brokeback Mountain, I read the script and ... I was weeping when I read the end of that script. And when a script can illicit that kind of emotion ... I will not stop following whatever I am moved by. For this movie, I read the first scene and there was this whole sense of great fun: Swinging of things, lighting stuff on fire ... All the time I kept thinking, this is so cool and so fun! I can't believe this!'


And more here, about the Joe Namath project...

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Pictures from links and IHJ with thanks.