Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway - putting emotion into the romance

Before we get going, it is possible that we need to get going on whipping up our finest quorn chicken soup for Jake. Twitter suggests that Jake Gyllenhaal was supposed to be interviewed by satellite for an LA breakfast show this morning. One suggestion for Jake's cancellation was that he's unwell. If that's the case, then put your feet up, Jake, and feel better quickly. I usually recommend beer and ice cream in such instances and everyone tells me what a bad idea this is.


This post is adorned with some stunning photographs from a shoot for the LA Times (via IHJ). To go with them we have some fine words to match - an interview with Jake for the Huffington Post. Jake talks about the interpretation of Love and Other Drugs and how it relates to that most fearsome of genres - The RomCom.

'I think filmmakers in particular feel like they have to carve some perfect sculpture with their movie and everything has to stay within one tone - as if life is like one tone all the time. People have to classify a movie, like, "It's a drama, it's a comedy, it's a romantic comedy." The truth is (I'll speak for myself here), the day is filled with a million emotions probably very similar to the things that happen in this movie. You believe Oliver Platt [who plays my boss] when he's funny and you're moved by him, too. The nature of the actors in this movie, you know, we all love to walk that line. I think that's really where great movies exist.'


'We don't like to call this film a romantic comedy, we're calling it an emotional comedy, which I think is more appropriate. You have to be invested. How many bullshit love stories are there out there? There are real stakes in this one. In order for the humor to land, in order for people to care about the love story, the stakes have to be raised. I think people are tired of romantic comedies. Because we love the genre, we wanted to give it more respect than people have in the last little while.'



Q: You play Jamie Randall, who sells Viagra for Pfizer. Could you buy into the mythology of being the typical pharmaceutical sales rep? JG: 'I definitely could buy into that. Part of my job is a little bit of that. I've gotta be a salesman. There's a nature to the act -- there's a real performance -- and there's a real performance to sales, so I think as an actor, it's natural. I think the only other role I could play really well would be a politician (laughs); there's an element of sales to that, too.'


'What I loved about [playing Jamie] is I don't think this guy knows what's at stake. I don't think he knows what he's selling completely. I think that's part of the pharmaceutical world. I would say about half the people I talked to [while doing research for the character] were aware of the effect of what they were doing. It isn't just about driving sales, it's about people's health, too. What I love about Jamie is his sense of performance, and I don't mean performance in the Viagra sense (laughs). A real sense of being able to walk into a room and have so much confidence that people would trust whatever he said. That was really wonderful to play, because I haven't played anything like that before.'



'I don't mean to sound like an old veteran because I'm without a doubt not one. But I've been doing this for 15 years now. Working with Anne, we did Brokeback and we did this -- it was magical. I hate to sound like an actor when I say that, but Ed and Anne and I had an incredible experience on this movie. In an odd way, it's the first movie I've made where I'm desperate for an audience to see it, because all we did was think about how much we care about our audience and how much we respect them. But I also know what an experience it was for me as an actor and I don't really mind what they think, which is a first for me. And I feel totally comfortable with Anne. She's ballsy, she's just a ballsy actor. For a woman her age to be that way with the scrutiny that she's under as an actress, is badass. You don't find that. She's pretty amazing.'


I particularly liked this tribute to Josh Gad: 'Josh Gad [who plays Jamie's brother] is the engine in this film. Josh Gad will be and is becoming a force to be reckoned with. He brought all the humor and energy to the movie, and was a huge influence on me, and an inspiration in terms of comedy. He's a great actor. Working with Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria, they're comedic geniuses but also really great actors.'


Q: What was it like to work with real Parkinson's patients in the film? JG: 'That was a hard day. It was moving in so many ways, but also really funny. Two of the women who helped Anne were at the [LA premiere] the other night and they're wonderful women, so funny and lighthearted. And with the passing of Jill Clayburgh [who played my mother in the film], I was just thinking, some people live healthy long lives and don't really ever live. And some people's lives are shorter and they live it to the fullest extent possible, in sickness and in health. Those are the people I admire and would love to mimic my life after. You can be some slick ol' pharmaceutical salesman who's #2 in the country and financially stable and got it all together, or, you know, you can have love. Which would you pick?'



When Anne Hathaway was interviewed by Chelsea Handler, she not only revelaed that she pinched her Brokeback Mountain underwear but also gave us a glimpse - as it were - of what exactly there was between herself and Jake during the shooting of Love and Other Drugs: 'Pretty much “a thong with a lot of tape, and the sides were cut off,” is all that separated both actors private areas while filming their new Edward Zwick film. “I spent weeks and weeks naked with Jake Gyllenhaal…and they paid me!”

Fox has released this video, which has one of those real Jakisms about himself and Anne: '"I have more and more belief in like the cosmic nature of things and fate," said Gyllenhaal. "And there is without a doubt something that she and I have that is that way."



As for Anne's character, Maggie, you can see some more of her incredible loft apartment at this site.