Reece Ritchie's Jake Gyllenhaal anecdotes from PoP filming, and WDW Cornwall Interlude part 3!

It's a miracle I can type this evening - I spent the day in a very impressive imitation of a washing machine courtesy of gales and rain, finished off with some sandblasting. But before I get on to that below, to help my relaxation processes, this evening's post contains a couple of anecdotes about Jake Gyllenhaal from the Prince of Persia filming, thanks to Reece Ritchie (aka Bis, a character who had cause to be more grateful than most to the powers of the sandglass). Ouch ... talking about sand again...


Reece told Unification, when asked if he trained as much as Jake: 'It was a bit thrown together. We ran in Hyde Park several times.Jake had already started training and he said that every time we came to a bench, we should pump or do a similar exercise. He was already in great shape to begin with. I'm sickly anyway, I just had to grow a beard. It scratched me at first, but now I'm used to it. I still haven't shaved.'

Note to Jake: Whenever you come across a bench, you're supposed to stop and make a phonecall, at least in this neck of the woods because the cliff bench is the only place with a signal. I'm not certain if each network has its own bench.


Reece was also asked what was the funniest thing to happen on set. It involved Jake: 'Jake was sitting in one of those big director chairs when suddenly we heard a crack. Jake, the chair, everything fell to the ground. Luckily, Jake thought it was funny, he has a great sense of humor and he had a big laugh. Nobody had a big head there.' While this scene could have been taken straight from Inception, it's a shame that we have no PoP gag reel. This picture of Reece is one I took at the London premiere.


New old pics

Many thanks to IHJ for the new old pics today of Jake in NYC in 2002, almost but not at all blending in.



WDW Cornwall Interlude Day 3

Today could have been all about re-enacting The Perfect Storm such was the weather that greeted me and the cliffs this morning. But my dolphin trip was cancelled, largely because any right thinking dolphin and whale shark would have made haste for southern waters. The only fish I saw today was safely battered and presented with chips and mushy peas.

I went to Penzance but I couldn't quite tell if it was Penzance due to the incredible fog. Unfortunately the fog also disguised the true force of the rain. Some bright spark of a concierge told me it was a short walk to the famous old fishing port of Mousehole. Four miles later (bearing in mind that in that driving rain one step forward was four steps backwards), I did eventually reach it and dived in the pub. The village below was Newlyn which I walked through on the way. I'm reliably informed that Newlyn is famous for its ice cream. I gave it a miss.


Outside Mousehole the beach is decorated with camouflaged towers of pebbles, stones and boulders. It's very striking and the more you look the more you see.



Fortunately, the gods took pity on me and the weather cleared up beautifully on the long walk back and so, in a typical Cornish fashion, summer returned and I could dry out. It also meant I could see St Michael's Mount in the distance, which I had not been able to see at all earlier in the day. And now, as I write, the sea is still again and the light is blue. Tomorrow is another day.


Pictures from IHJ, Disney and WDW.