Jake Gyllenhaal working on a dark Hans Christian Andersen musical, and 3 great new interviews (plus more videos)

You can read my (non-spoilery) review of Prince of Persia here. As you see the film, I'd love to know what you think about it so please do comment there. The review is non-spoilery but the comments can be as spoilery as you like.

It may be the weekend but there's no time for lie-ins, leisurely fried breakfasts, reading the papers (except those with Jake Gyllenhaal in them, of course) or shopping for vital supplies - Jake Gyllenhaal appears in 9 out of every 10 articles published today and amongst the GyllenSpeak we know, love and expect, there are some truly golden nuggets.


Hot on the heels of yesterday's Independent, today's Times has a full-page spread on Jake Gyllenhaal and there's no missing it. Open the paper and there, on one of the broadsheets is a close up of Jake that'll make you take a step backwards. I can't hope to do justice to it with a scan, but I thought I'd take a picture. Humour me! It makes a great change from politicians.


You can read all of the article here, and it's incredible - the full range of emotions laid open on the page.

Brokeback Mountain: 'He’s choked — to the point where his eyes are glassing over. “That role,” he says, of Brokeback, “and the fate of all the characters and souls who were involved in the making of that project ... it’s just . . .” He trails off. “I don’t have much to say. Apart from the fact that that film moved many, many people.”'



'“Jerry’s more sensitive than he comes across, and I’m tougher than I seem,” he says. “And when you have respect for someone in a creative sense, it’s wonderful, regardless of your political points of view — which have never come up, by the way.” Nevertheless, he admits: “I’m definitely not the obvious choice to play this role, which is the reason why I wanted to play it. I’ve pretty much approached everything I’ve done in my career that way.”'

The accent: '“I had to learn it,” he says. “In fact, I had been intimidated by other roles where I would have had to do a British accent. Some I’ve stayed away from, to be honest, out of respect — I know that culturally it differentiates people in so many ways. As an American, you really can’t tell. I worked with Barbara Berkery [who coached Gwyneth Paltrow for Sliding Doors and Renée Zellweger for Bridget Jones’s Diary], I listened to tapes, but there was no one specific that I worked on. I wish I could say it was Mick Jagger, but in this case ... no.” Overall, it’s a convincing effort: imagine a kind of Mockneyish Prince Harry. “That was the accent that worked the best, in terms of delivery, wryness, of the comedy in the script,” Gyllenhaal explains, after claiming not to have heard the phrase Mockney. “I tried to steer it a little south, but my dialect coach wouldn’t let me. I just always felt it added a little bit of flair.”'


'He had lots of time to practise. Three months were spent filming on location and another three working at Pinewood. “I never broke the accent, even when I was on set, because I knew I’d get that cringe factor from the Brits — even though I know the British can be very polite — overly polite, in my opinion. But I really love that, too.”' British, overly polite? I'm extremely sorry about that, Jake.

The name: “I’ve gotten scolded many times by my family for having heard the origins of my name, saying it publicly, and then getting, ‘That is not what our last name means!’ ” the actor laughs. “But according to one story, one of my great-grandfathers was a cataloguer of beetles and butterflies, and the King of Sweden collected all of his papers, and supposedly gave him a room off the Golden Hall in Stockholm where he could work. So our last name is Gyllenhaal. That could be total shite, though, to be honest.”'


Keeping the gamers happy: '“It’s quite a culture, and I think it’s intimidating in terms of a movie,” he says. “But then again, I’ve played characters who existed in real life, who’ve been to war, worked for the CIA, and, in that sense, it’s interesting that I feel as much pressure to satisfy the gaming world as I would a US Marine.” Speaking of which: how did America’s Devil Dogs react to Gyllenhaal’s portrayal of a Gulf War antihero in Jarhead? “Definitely a mixed reaction,” he responds, with a quick smile. “Some people really loved it, and ... well, what I appreciate is the flat-out honesty I get from people who were in the service. They come up to me and say, ‘Hey, are you the guy from Jarhead?’ I go, ‘Yeah’. And they go, ‘I didn’t like that movie’.” He bursts out laughing.'

'And what about Brokeback Mountain? What does the general public think of that? Thankfully, with the mood lightened, Gyllenhaal seems comfortable returning to the subject of the Oscar-winning movie with one of the most tragic postscripts in modern cinema history. “There was a beauty to that film,” he says, with feeling, “regardless of the jokes poked at it. There was a beauty to it that surpassed all that other stuff.”'

There's much more here.



There is a second excellent interview today in the Inquirer and right at the end of it, a fascinating bit of info relating to future projects: '“I’ve always wanted to tell the story of [football legend] Joe Namath. We’ve been working on that for a long time. I would love to be able to play that role. I’m also developing this film about Hans Christian Andersen. Not Danny Kaye’s ‘Hans Christian Andersen’ though that was one of my favorite movies as a kid. This is actually a musical and Stephen Schwartz is writing the music. It’s a dark, interesting tale of Hans, his stories and how he gets to meet his own characters. It’s all set to music. I really want to be in a musical but I want to reinvent the idea of what the musical is. There’s a way of doing it that can bring modernity to it as opposed to something we’ve already seen before.”'


Stephen Schwartz is best known, probably, as the composer of musicals Wicked and Godspell. Maybe the day will come when we will see Jake belt out a big number on the silver screen, and maybe it will be in this and not Damn Yankees. Interesting.

The rest of this interview is a delight with Funny Jake on top form: '“From the very beginning, Mike Newell would say to me, ‘You know my dear boy, you should just speak in the accent. Do not be afraid. Just talk to all the actors and enjoy yourself.’ I was like, ‘Oh Jesus.’ I was so nervous. I was working on the accent for about three months with a dialect coach because I knew how much scrutiny I would get. I had been watching ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ over and over again. And by the way, Bridget Jones was a main influence in my training regimen. I was going after that physique. My accent was really a mixture of Gwyneth Paltrow in ‘Sliding Doors’ and Renee Zellweger in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary.’ Gwyneth in ‘Sliding’...influenced the hair, too.”


'He continued: “I’d be talking to [cast mates] Toby Kebbell, Richard Coyle and Gemma Arterton in this horrible accent. There were a lot of flub ups and I asked them to tell me when something didn’t sound right or if I just sounded like I was pushing something and they would. I could see them cringe. Then slowly the confidence started to build. I remember the first day of this big rehearsal in Morocco. Mike was touring us around the set. I sat there with the actors in a tent and I was talking with the accent because I decided I would do that throughout the workday. They all started treating me differently. They were like more buddy-buddy. Toby and Richard invited me out for a beer that night which was really weird. Gemma was a little bit more flirtatious than normal. I thought, I’m nailing this accent now. They really think that I’m British.”'


'A question about how Jake has appeared in several movies set in the sand was prefaced by the challenges faced by Fergie in her number in the sand in the musical, “Nine.” Jake deadpanned, “Many people have compared my performance in this movie to Fergie’s, I know.” He said he has made a lot of movies in the sand. “It’s so strange. Like I read the script and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ And then I show up in the desert and I am like, ‘How the hell did I not know that we were shooting in the desert for four months?’ I’m pretty familiar with sand – it’s in my DNA now. If I have children one day, they will be born made of sand. Personally, I would rather be the sand in Fergie’s scenes than in mine but that may just be my choice. Sand gets in everywhere, like my mother used to say. I had a lot of sand in my schlitz.”'

'This movie awakened that kid in me again. I made it for families. My aunt called me the other day and she was like, ‘Hey, this is a movie that your cousins can finally see.’



In a third interview - in the Philstar, from the Prince of Persia Dorchester day - Jake is asked 'What is sexy to you? “To me, the most important thing is for people to discover what the character is all about, what’s the inside of this guy. The essence is mythological and simple but he has to have a good heart, and he does a good thing, and he’s rewarded for doing a good thing. It’s very simple but it’s very clear. Hopefully, that’s sexy to me.”'


'How do you feel being a movie star? (Pretending to be horrified) “God, man, it is just soooo hard.” (Laughs and laughs again) “I mean, it’s a hard job and, please, please, please insert the irony that’s needed in that statement. Actually, it’s a pleasure to do the job. It’s a great job. I mean, there are days when you can catch me when I’m...Grrrrr! But most days, it’s all good. Not bad.”'


'“Oh, I would like to be called that then, an actor who takes risks. I think I have made a lot of choices that made people go, ‘What!?!’ I did Brokeback Mountain because I read the script and I was, you know, so moved by it. In my opinion, you’d be a fool not to have done that movie. I was like weeping while reading that script. When a script can elicit that kind of emotion, it’s there, it’s a blueprint. Whatever fears come to mind about how people are gonna perceive you...if you have those fears that would stop you from giving a good performance. If you are moved by script, then go with that first instinct. When I read the first page of the Prince of Persia script, I felt the same way. Forget those fears, follow your instinct.”

'Any role that you would not play? “I won’t say specifically what roles but there have been roles that I turned down and that went to other actors, even if people told me that I would be amazing in them. If I feel that I can’t do it, then I’d rather not do it.”'


'How do you spend your time away from work? “I spend my time with my family; I spend a lot of time with my family. I love, you know, cooking and I love to grow the food that I cook, mostly vegetables. I spend time with my sister and my brother-in-law and my niece. I’m really a homebody.”'

Many thanks to IHJ for the fabulous pics! Apologies to anyone who caught the Sky PoP special this evening for the ungainly shots of me waving in the background (while, at one point, phoning my mum to tell her I was on telly...).

Download:

FLVMP43GP