Jake Gyllenhaal talks about Brokeback's Reunion, Heath, and what he learned from David Fincher and Donnie - plus Jake's on a Train and Zwick on LAOD

With big thanks to Nathaniel R, who did a great job of catching every word, we have more snippets from Jake Gyllenhaal's Saturday night out. This time, we have some of Jake's miscellaneous comments about past movies and there is some great stuff. You can read it all here, but here are some of my favourite bits, and there isn't one that didn't make me stop and think. Thanks to Nathaniel, who wanted WDW readers to see it, for the heads up! Before I start, I must say how much I agree with Nathaniel's comment that David Fincher was the star of Zodiac and that 'you can see his smudgy auteur fingerprints on every painstaking frame'.


On Donnie Darko: 'It really marks, more than any other movie I've ever done, figuratively a time in my life. And that movie -- before we started shooting, I had been having a rough time figuring out what was up, what end was up. Jason Schwartzman was supposed to play that part. They had financing, they were ready to go and he dropped out and I stumbled upon it and out of the director's desperation got the role. It really matched somehow somewhere where I was in my life. I remember it premiered at Sundance and my mother, father and sister came up to me afterwards crying and realizing that I had been saying something to them with that movie -- how lost I was. How did I do it? I don't know something about talking to that rabbit. It just seemed to comfort me at that time.'


Lost - watching, trying or not trying to understand Donnie Darko is something that has filled my last ten years and it brings this film home to me in a way I've not experienced before - just by hearing that Jake stumbled upon it and that it marked a time in his life. Comfort in speaking to the rabbit - I can understand a little of that too.

'When you think of cult films a lot of time's there's a bit of a wink. I don't think that was our intention at all. It's a deeply serious movie to me... Whether you're experimenting with drugs or not there's a moment where you go 'Whats real? What's not?' There was no thought of result. Any time I've ever done anything with the thought of a result its been a bad thing.'


In addition to talking about the difficulty of filming love scenes, for the first time in quite a while, Jake discusses Brokeback's reunion scene: 'It was about more than just kissing. The scene in Brokeback Mountain where Heath and I see each other after a very long time. This has been hard for me to explain for years. We had very little to do with that scene being as powerful as it is. It was powerful when you read it in the screenplay. It was powerful in the short story on the page. What we do when we had that moment together is filled with -- it's filled with moments that people have had that have nothing to do with us. We just basically went up and slammed our mouths together. You know what I mean? We were the instruments for something that was much bigger than both of us.'

Jake's performance in Brokeback: 'I think I do have regrets about it, about things, as every actor does. When I see Heath's work in that movie it's just transcendent and amazing and as a fellow actor to me I just always admire him. I hoped that I could be as good as. So I watch it and I always see that.'


In my opinion - and I am a completely biased and awestruck admirer of David Fincher - Zodiac was a vital step on Jake's acting journey, albeit not necessarily always a pleasant one. Although, having said that, since the filming days, David and Jake have never shown anything but affection for each other. In hindisght, Jake can see that Fincher knew what he could get from Jake and that is indeed what Fincher got. Firstly, Jake describes the scene where his character finally sees the man he believes to be the murderer: 'We shot that twice. David didn't like the first store we shot in. That was again multiple takes. The funny part of that is John Carol Lynch played by dad in Bubble Boy so that look is filled with so much more than just 'hunter and hunted.' I was desperate for you show a scene of me and him crying in a car and me in a bubble.'


One of the best scenes in Zodiac is the final cafe scene when Jake explains his theory to Mark Ruffalo's character. Since the first time I saw this movie I have admired Jake, who hasn't always had a good time learning lines, for this scene. 'That was the third time we shot the scene. We shot each of our takes close to 50 times. So... 150th take? Now I see what David wanted. I watch it and I'm like 'Now I know.' I didn't know what he wanted. What I've been learning -- this is what happens when you start when you're 15 years old -- no one is going to hold your hand and when you're 15 you need that. As I've gotten older and worked more and more I've realized how much I have to be prepared and there for the director so they think 'Jake's got my back I don't need to worry about him.' I think I had a misunderstanding for a long time -- because I grew up in a family off filmmakers -- that we're all supposed to collaborate. The truth is an actor is supposed to show up and do their job and know their job to a 't' 120% and be ready to go. Discover on the day but be ready to go. When I watch that I see myself learning.'


And that, for me, is one of the most marvellous things I have ever heard Jake say about his journey to be the actor he has become.

Read the full account here.


Another blogger has recalled watching the Q&A on Saturday: '[Jake] was completely charming, interested, and really smart. They talked about his mustache in Brokeback Mountain quite a bit, and Jake said that he actually won an award for that mustache. (No, seriously, an online award given out every year to best mustache). We found out that Jason Schwartzman, a close friend of Jake's, was originally supposed to play Donnie Darko. (WHAATTT?) He talked about sex a lot, and we discovered that there is a lot of nudity in his new movie - probably the best advertisement ever. It was over way to soon, and was completely surreal the whole time. He seems like a very cool guy who really doesn't comprehend how immensely talented he is. I wish I knew how to quit him. (How could I resist?)'.


Jake's on a Train

Last night Jake was seen and photographed on the 3 Train in NYC, which covers Manhattan and Brooklyn, and, for all the world, he looked like just another commuter, albeit an irresistibly hot one. Jake appears to have separated his movie and private self this year to an admirable degree and, while the glimpses such as this put the smile back on my face, it is good to know that Jake has achieved this.


Someone else tweeted today: 'Jake gyllenhaal's beard almost ran me over today on a LES sidewalk. A dude w/ porcelain face+thick beard is off.. like the guy on KnockedUp. But as we can see how Jake is making his way around the city, relatively left in peace, you can see how the Face Pet may be coming in handy. It almost makes me want him to keep it.... Until Love and Other Drugs comes out, of course.

To satisfy my own personal curiosity, can anyone tell me what 'a LES sidewalk' might be? It's all pavements over here...

Ed Zwick interviewed in Chicago

In this video, Ed Zwick makes an appearance in the Fox studio in his home town of Chicago and he has a lot to say about his funny and sexy stars. If the embedding below doesn't work for you, you can see it here.



Includes pictures from links and IHJ.