Catherine Keener - the woman who made Jake Gyllenhaal feel sexy - and a Nailed catchup

I've always had a big liking for Catherine Keener, ever since I saw her making out in the car with the younger Jake Gyllenhaal back in 2001's Lovely & Amazing. Can't imagine why... Anyway, today I saw her in Cyrus, a movie I do recommend and also featuring another familiar name, John C Reilly, from The Good Girl. And so it seems right to do a post for Catherine who has featured in more than one of Jake's films. I'm hoping that one of these days we will get to see her on the screen in Nailed, in which she plays one of Jake's nemeses. This gives me the perfect excuse to repost some of my all time favourite pictures from Nailed - gorgeous, adorable, humorous and handsome I'm sure you'll agree, and Jake's not bad either. And these days, just as furry.



Parker the Monkey was a visitor to the Nailed set from Sam's Path Petting Zoo back in the spring of 2008. Catherine even shared her toothbrush with the cheeky monkey.


Catherine spoke about what it was like to play the older lover of toyboy Jake in Lovely & Amazing: 'I had a blast with him. People have asked was it weird because he was so much younger. I guess I was so in the mindset of Michelle and the story and she is so immature it seemed sort of an appropriate guy for her [laughter]. It wasn't freakish at all to me. And so therefore if it's going to be a guy who's only seventeen why not Jake Gyllenhaal ! It was fantastic! He's adorable, fun, enthusiastic. We were laughing all the time. It was three o'clock in the morning the first night we're working and we are kissing in the back of the car, freezing it was just silly. It wasn't like one of those standard uncomfortable love scenes were you feel weird enough. We had no time, no money and no time. He's so gifted and a really nice guy. Everybody was. This movie was really a great time everyone was unbelievable.'


When The Day After Tomorrow came out, Jake reflected on how much he had enjoyed Lovely & Amazing: 'I probably would say there are pieces of every performance that I like, not one performance that is great. But I do like the movie "Lovely & Amazing".' Because of... 'A comfort, a real sense of camaraderie on the set which made me feel comfortable. I was a young actor not having the experience that so many other actors have who have been in the business for a long time. Building up a defense and figuring out ways of bringing things up even when you're not supported, is something I don't have. Whenever I feel like I falter, it's because I don't feel like I'm completely supported. In that movie, I walked into rehearsals with Catherine Keener and she immediately made me feel sexy and I remember Nicole Holofcenter, the director was like, 'Do you want some coffee?' and I'm 'Yeah, I'll have some coffee.' She's like [Catherine] 'I'll have anything he has.' And I was like, 'Okay, cool!' You don't get that from other actors. Usually you walk on and you're like, 'Can I have a coffee?' And they're like 'oh, you want coffee.' And I'm like, 'what? What's wrong with coffee?' So I like that film because I just felt relaxed and myself, and honest, and happy.'



Nailed catch up

To find out more about Catherine's role in Nailed, do check out a set visit report from WDW reader Nicole who even got a part as an extra. Even more reason for us to want to see this film. You can read about Nicole's time on set here. Another reader, Lisa, also wrote for WDW about her experience on the set where her daughter also had a role as an extra. You can read Lisa's account of the nightime shoots here. Not to forget The Excellent Adventure of Ted and Lisa (a different Lisa - our very own BBMISWear) when they spent an incredible day with Jake. If you've not read the detailed and very funny account, you can find out how here and see some photos.



Another actor in Nailed, David Ramsey, reflects about the project at the end of this interview.

Includes pictures from IHJ, Nicole and a scan from WDW.

You can read what I thought of Cyrus over at MovieBrit.