Jake Gyllenhaal burns to emulate his heroes, over the moon at working with Duncan Jones and Donnie Darko 10 years on

A couple of goodies this evening, including another interview with Jake Gyllenhaal from Germany and it's a corker. There's much more to it than just yet more questions about what Jake would do if he could pick eight minutes to relive. You can find the whole interview here and below I've included some snippets. Anything dodgy is the fault of my translation - Jake is not to blame (unless he really did say something strange and the translation is spot on...).


'I am proud to do blockbusters. "The Day After Tomorrow" for example, focuses on an environmental disaster. And "Jarhead" tells us of the madness of the Gulf War, "Brokeback Mountain" is about the taboo love between men, and "Love and Other Drugs" is also about the hubris of the American pharmaceutical industry.'


Choice of roles as Jake becomes better known: 'Sure, the danger is great. When celebrity status reaches a certain height it can become complacent and hollow. I readily admit it. But I've not fallen into this trap. I'm still burning! I still want to know. I still wear each of my films literally like my skin. I've been working without a safety net.'

'I hope that I will never back down. I would rather be like my big idols Paul Newman, Anthony Quinn, Steve McQueen and Marlon Brando. They never sold out. And when I look at how well my sister Maggie is doing in the movie business, it suggests to me that there is also great hope.'


'I love acting, especially because of the storytelling. I'm happiest when I can be part of telling a great story. This is my drive as an artist.'

'Seeing myself on a movie poster is a limited thrill for me (laughter). But the thrill of being able to work with fantastic actors like Heath Ledger is indescribable. Or with such a visionary young director like Duncan Jones. I was totally over the moon that he wanted to do "Source Code". I found his debut film "Moon" quite extraordinary.'


'... And daring, sometimes risking taking a wrong step creatively, yes. It's very liberating. Because it's the only way you develop further. This does not mean that I valued "Source Code" as a creative misstep - the opposite is the case. The film was a step in the right direction. I will continue to make more films like this, rather than the one that is expected of me. I'm personally and professionally in a state of transformation when almost anything can happen. This is exciting.'

Public interest in Jake as a person: 'This whole celebrity nonsense? Sometimes I call out to people "Get a life!" But mostly I just shrug my shoulders. If you really want, you can escape a bit from all the hype - even in Los Angeles.'


Ending a relationship in public: 'True, it's not easy when a relationship ends under the magnifying glass of the media. It's bad enough even without the pictures and malicious comments. But even so I did not let them bend me. That would be really bad.'

'I have a great ambition, that everything I do looks light and loose. Just as, for example, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart made it look. That to me is the greatest art: to make what is heavy appear light.'


Many thanks to Mrs JG for letting me know about this great interview and also for the heads up that Donnie Darko appears in the July issue of SFX as the magazine takes a look at the scifi and fantasy of 2001. (If you're a Torchwood fan, you might well want to get this magazine.) Here are some scans I've done. Click on them and they shall be embiggened.





And finally...

If you're interested, you can read my take on the taster of Transformers: Dark of the Moon that we were teased with earlier in the week over at Bleeding Cool.

Includes scans from WDW and pictures from IHJ.