Thursday 18 October 2012

Jake Gyllenhaal talks about An Enemy, Prisoners and working on stage in If There Is

As sure as night follows day, as irrefutable as Jake Gyllenhaal not endorsing Romney, the media interest in Jake continues to soar. Hardly surprising, considering the rave reviews he has received for End of Watch and If There Is... and the speculation about new exciting roles to come.


The new UK quad poster for End of Watch (pictured above) was revealed today by HeyUGuys.

Jake has been talking to Wall Street Journal about An Enemy and Prisoners, in addition to lots about End of Watch:

An Enemy: We finished production on it at the end of July, and then I went right to rehearsals for the play. Denis Villeneuve, who directed it, is cutting it now. I play two roles in “An Enemy.” It’s actually the story about a man who is married and his wife is pregnant with their child. He, at the same time, in another personality is having an affair, and there are two personalities and he needs to reconcile the two in order to make a commitment to his marriage. It’s his journey reconciling both sides of himself. At the same time, it’s a thriller on this whole other level, where there could be actually two people. What happens is a question of identity, when you meet yourself. So, there are two things going on but if we succeed at pulling that off – it was a fascinating process, and a very technical process, which I really enjoyed.'

Whether Jake will appear in Prisoners: 'I don’t know exactly. We’re talking about it, yeah. I hope so and I loved working with him [Villeneuve] and if I get to work with him again, it’ll be really exciting. It would be an evolution because my character [in “End of Watch”] does say, “I want to be a detective.."'


Earlier, Jake spoke to the Wall Street Journal again about acting on stage night after night in If There Is and how hard it is to cope with the physicality of acting: '[Laughs] I don't really think about that. Just given the experience I've had, even preparing for "End of Watch" and the police officers—the hours that they spend, the work that they do. My job just seems absurd, and the work and the time I put into it always seems a pittance in comparison. I try to feel great every night and I honestly feel blessed. Four hundred and fifty people actually fill up that auditorium every night to come see our show. All of us have been sick at one point or another, and we actually end up turning out better performances when we're more tired or our bodies are physically pressed.'

There is much, much more in these interviews so do check them out.


Paul Dano, recently announced for Prisoners, has been talking a little about the possibility of working with Jake. It would seem that people involved with Prisoners are a lot more certain about Jake's involvement in the film than he wants to admit to! 'I don’t think I can say much about Prisoners, since it’s in pre-production. I hung out with Jake once, and he was a really great guy, and we meant to hang out again. I’ve never met Hugh. I hear he’s a good man'

Thanks to BBMISwear for the link to the first video and to IHJ for all they do.

15 comments:

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Evening everyone! Great to see these interviews - so good to hear Jake talking about these roles. Friday tomorrow!

Susan said...

Hi Kate, great post, as usual. I'm intrigued by what Jake says about An Enemy. Looking at the story as one man trying to reconcile different aspects of his personality, not simply a man who accidentally comes across his "double," his infinitely more interesting than a simple thriller about two guys who look alike. But there's also the thriller aspect of the possibility it could be two different men. Oh, Jake, you don't like simple stories at all, do you? ;-)

Minerva By The Sea said...

An Enemy sounds really interesting - my sort of film! Can't wait!

Minerva By The Sea said...

I'm fascinated by Jake's choice of films - he's been in THREE specifically about going back in time to change a situation....Donnie Darko, Prince of Persia and Source Code ... :-)

I found out recently that some aspects of PoP are based on real places and people...would never have believed it, had it not been for Dan Brown....

Susan said...

BrightMoonCrystals, one of the things I love about PoP is that although it is a romantic fantasy, it is grounded in reality (although it blurs so many lines between cultures and time periods). Everything Dastan does so spectacularly well is within the realm of real human achievement. He's my favorite superhero because he has no weird super powers, he's not an alien, he's not loaded up with lots of techno gizmos, his DNA hasn't been altered in a science experiment gone wrong - he's just a real MAN. Or maybe I should say ideal fantasy man. Whatever, he's JAKE and that works for me! ;-)

Jill said...

WDW, do you have any inside information on how EOW will fair at the film festival this weekend?

mermon said...

Fantastic interviews with Jake!
From what he said about An Enemy, there are really many changes to the book, which I read. Very well, I'll have some surprises!
@Susan, what you said about my favourite fantasy hero is excellent, that's why we may imagine him in real past life, cause he is so real.

Minerva By The Sea said...

Susan I couldn't agree with you more :-)

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Good to see you Bright Moon Crystals, Susan and Mermon! Good to see the Dastan love :) One of my favourites (I'm surrounded by Dastan lego and models so just as well!)

Hi Jill! I don't have any info I'm afraid. Fingers crossed...

It's Friday! Have a good weekend everyone :)

Minerva By The Sea said...

Hi everyone, please to meet you :-)
I'm doing a Cinema Studies course at the moment. I had to write about a cinematic shot, so chose the opening shot for Donnie Darko, which is a scene that stuck in my mind. It's an amazing shot - i had to watch it about ten times to get all my info - after a while it began to have a profound effect on me, the last time I watched I burst into tears - the music is so melancholy too! Yesterday I watched the whole film again for the second time, and so more more fell into place regarding the story. I can see why this film has become a cult classic - the more you watch the more amazing it is.

Susan said...

Bright Moon Crystals, there should be an entire course devoted to studying Donnie Darko. It's an amazing movie that does get better (if perhaps not clearer) the more it is viewed. It is quite possibly my second favorite movie of all time. ;-)

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hello everyone! Sorry for absence over the weekend - I had a bit of an unsettling time due to one thing and another (largely due to maniac Oxford drivers) and have been taking it easy. Noone was hurt but it's been very traumatic. But feeling more human again now :)

Hi Bright Moon Crystals - Donnie Darko is an exceptional film. It's in my top 3 Jake movies along with Brokeback and Zodiac and I never tire of it.

I do agree, Susan!

Minerva By The Sea said...

Hi Susan

What is your NUMBER 1 fave film then? :-)

WDW Sorry to hear of your mis-adventures in Oxford - not a place I'd like to drive around - and wouldn't want to park there either - need a mortgage!

Got hold of a copy of Source Code today from Morrisons :-) Looking forward to watching it.

Susan said...

Bright Moon Crystals - No. 1 favorite of all time is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Donnie Darko is tied for #2 with Star Wars Episode 4 A New Hope. Star Wars was my absolute favorite movie of all time for 30+ years until I saw PoP.

Minerva By The Sea said...

Susan, yes, Star Wars was my fave film when I was younger. Out of the Jakey films I've so far, PoP is my fave too. As well as PoP I've seen, in order of watching, Love and Other Drugs, Rendition, Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko, The Day After Tomorrow and Jarhead. Just purchased Source Code so looking forward to that next :-)