'Months and months of blood, sweat and tears' David Ayer on Jake Gyllenhaal getting it right for End of Watch

Everything's hotting up for End of Watch! Directing David Ayer has been talking about Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in the film and how he was so authentic during these apparently camera-less scenes, he was accepted by authentic LA police crews driving past the set.

'Ayer recalled, "Cops in LA will do a hand sign with four fingers to say 'everything's good.' Jake threw a 'Code Four' at some LAPD cops rolling by and they threw a 'Code Four' back. I don't think they had any idea it was Jake Gyllenhaal!"'

"Jake put his heart and soul into the training," Ayer said. "There are a thousand subtle things cops do, and I wanted Jake to have the body language and presence of an LAPD officer." Ayer called the training process "months and months of blood, sweat and tears, and it enabled Jake and Mike to be so believable together."

"Everybody films everything in their lives these days," Ayer said, "Even the bad guys!" As a result, Gyllenhaal and Peña were required to not only be convincing cops, but also cameramen. Ayer said, "A couple scenes are entirely Jake's camera work. He got pretty good by the end!"

You can read the full feature here, where we can also see one of the first publicity stills from End of Watch.

One of the lucky members of the audience of the first screenings of End of Watch, so many months before the release, has recorded their glowing report here. It is spoiler-free. Thanks to Mermon for the links and thanks to IHJ for the screencaps from the trailer. I've picked some of my favourites here.