Tuesday 8 February 2011

Jake Gyllenhaal - actor, rocker

I may not be a geneticist (seriously, I'm not) but it could be fair to say that if one of the little blobs in Jake Gyllenhaal's DNA string had been a little bit bigger, or a little bit to the left or right, or a different colour, maybe we would be applauding Jake on the Glastonbury stage from a muddy field instead of on the silver screen. Indeed, Jake shows all the signs of a potential rock star. He may have said that he wanted to be a professional basketball or soccer player, but perhaps its a rocker's starlight that may have suited Jake best in an alternate universe. So, inspired by our glimpse of Jake at a magical, intimate gig, guitar in hand, with his favourites Mumford and Sons, here is a little taster of Musical Jake.



Talking of harmonicas, who could forget Jake on TRL back in those Zodiac days...?



Jake's musical ability has been commented on by Natalie Portman in People: '"Jake is the kind of guy who can do a spot-on impression of someone you work with that will make you giggle," raves Brothers costar Natalie Portman about the 28-year-old. "He plays guitar and has a great voice. Kids and dogs love him. He loves his mom and sister and girlfriend. He's perfect. Too bad he's ugly."'


He was also in a band as a teenager, as a guitarist: 'The band that I was in, "Holeshot," broke up. I am not currently in any band...but I am writing music and playing. I listen to all different kinds of music. I love The Pixies, Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright, Bob Dylan, The Toots and the Maytals, Beck, Belle and Sebastian, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few.'


Jake elaborates here: ''Well, I think every actor says they're a singer. I don't know any actor who doesn't. They claim to be, every actor wants to be a rock star and every rock star wants to be an actor, which is probably true. But I've been singing all my life. My band, which broke up, was called Holeshot, and it was like rock, fusion kinda like, a little bit of like, I guess you could say influence like jazz. I love to play music.' What music do you like listening to? 'I love Tom Waits, I really love Tom Waits, I love Radiohead, I love Belle and Sebastian. I love so many and every time I remember answering this question and I go to my CD collection, I'm like, 'Oh! I should have said this, and I should have said that!' Because there are so many bands that I love so much, but those are the ones that are in my head.'

There are other things I'd prefer to forget.


But even that photo comes with a pleasant footnote. The Interview photographer, Mark Seliger, said at the back of the magazine: '"What I like about Jake is that he's got a fun, gentle side,"... The pair even took time to harmonize on what Seliger describes as "a pretty C-minus version" of John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery."'



Jake's singing and dancing powers are indeed legendary and another matter altogether but I cannot help posting this video which remains one of my very favourite Jake moments.



So when that musical happens, as it surely will one day, we won't be surprised by what we see but many no doubt will be. And also let's not forget, Jake has also inspired music.

Includes pictures from IHJ.

I've been busy this evening, I've done a post on robots! for Bleeding Cool and a post on Source Code for Man Made Movies.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah...that ukelele pic....WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

the other stuff...hell yeah! I´d love to hear Jake sing.

Thanks for a great post!


Monika

Alejandra said...

This post deserves a gold star of the size of the sun! Love it!!

The rockstar aura works like a magnet for me. I mean, that was the main reason why I liked Johnny Depp at one point (until it was obvious he was just impersonating Keith Richards :-P)... And now that I can't see anybody (this young) in rock that's this exciting, I'm glad I have found Jake. Total badass in my book (to sort of quote RDJ). And that thing he said? That every actor wants to be a rockstar... That's so precious to me! More than autograph from him could ever be. May sound weird, but it's true. :-)

I hope we get the chance to enjoy more and more of his infinite talent in the near future (the nearer, the better, of course).

Ahhh... Perfect post, WDW! Congrats!

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hi Monika! So glad you liked it! And that pic is just... re-volting. And welcome!

That's great, Alejandra - I'm really pleased that you enjoyed it! I love the rockstar aura too and maybe that's a reason why we love Jake - because he loves it too and he also fills it in some way. Jake is exciting. He has all these different personas and he knows what we want. I love that. It doesn't sound weird at all.

Thank you!

I've been busy tonight, I've also done a post on Bleeding Cool that I really enjoyed!

And an updated on Source Code for Man Made Movies! SC has a certificate! And a length... I'll post on that here tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

He sure is musically talented. Yep one day they'll be a musical. If he can sing on SNL he can do anything

sweetpea

Wet Dark and Wild said...

He is indeed, Sweetpea :)

mermon said...

Wow! Jake certainly likes to perform.
And he has great charisma to do that.Thank you WDW - for that charming post and all that pictures and video. I can imagine how hard it was for you to paste that pic with guitar. :) You did id for us! Aren't you?

THE INTERVIEW (4-24-99)
"Misty:Are you starting any type of fan club ?
Jake: No fan club as of yet." -

Hahaha, few years later and so many fans all over the world!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post! Reminds me just how awesomely multifaceted and multitalented our Jake is - like a giant diamond glowing brilliantly among the lumps of coal surrounding it.

I just can't help it - Jake inspires hyperbole from me. ;-) Seriously, I love to hear him sing and be musical and I'm on the same page with Alexandra in her assessment.

Susan

Wet Dark and Wild said...

It wasn't easy, Mermon! But I had to do it. When Uli's back she'll so love that pic :D Jake is most definitely a performer, he's said so, and that does tie actors and rockers. That very early interview is one of the very best :)

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Thanks Susan! Posting at the same time :D And what a wonderful way to describe Jake! He is like a diamond being cut from the rock - I think he'll continue to discover new wonders about himself for years to come, as we will too. I've done posts on Jake's singing before and so I left that out of this one, but I am so in agreement - Jake has a voice that demands to be heard!!

gyllenhaalisgr8 said...

I don't know which were moving faster, Jake's drumsticks or his tongue, LOL!. It never stops!

BBMISwear said...

Oh I loved this post! All these great musical moments - which of course has me thinking of all his great singing moments (i.e. singing The Fox, Night Fever, etc.). So much fun stuff! Can't wait for when this guy finally does a musical.

Thanks for this pick me up and I look forward to new SC news!

:-)

Monica said...

Thanks for the info about Source Code.

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Morning everyone! Is it Friday yet...?

Hi Gyllenhaalisgr8! That is quite a clip - Non stop :D

So glad you liked it, BBMISwear :-) It put a smile on my face too (except for Ukelele Jake - that made me grimace...).

My pleasure, Monica :)

Have a good day everyone!