Keeping up to date with Jake Gyllenhaal - BAFTAs, Santa Monica, AIAF, Prisoners, Prince of Persia, This is Our Youth and more!

Last weekend, London was soaked in torrential rain and sleet - that can mean only one thing: BAFTAs. And while Jake Gyllenhaal was not in attendance this year (probably just as well because when I saw Jake on the famously soapy BAFTA red carpet back in 2007, it took a good week before I could rid myself of lingering hypothermia), his Prisoners co-star was, the Well-Voiced Hugh Jackman. Hugh might not have beaten Daniel Day Lewis in the race to the Best Actor Gong but he did provide a very pleasant distraction from Helen Mirren's new pink hairdo. I don't want to say anything too harsh about the pink do because I still feel a little bit of guilt for yelling at her to get out of the way back in 2007 when she chose to linger right in front of Jake. Obviously this is understandable but it did little for my view.

   

You can read about my experience of the 2007 BAFTAs in strictly unnecessary detail here. The shaky nature of some of my photos can be blamed on extremely localised seismic activity. With Well-Voiced Hugh busy in London, this no doubt left Jake with a bit of leisure time and so last weekend Jake was seen arriving at a hotel in Santa Monica. Was he in LA for the Mumford and Sons Grammy Victory, I wonder...? Many thanks to IHJ!

   

But while the filming seems remarkably low key, this week we got a very good look at Jake in character as Detective Loki when he was snapped being given the Heimlich Manoeuvre.

   

Filming, though, continues apace and very politely.

   

Otherwise, on the filming front, we have the little piece of news that the music is being recorded for An Enemy at the moment and it involves 'scary strings'.

Arts in the Armed Forces

Back in November, we were lucky to have our very own reporter, Lisa, at the Arts in the Armed Forces event in NYC, which Jake attended and gave a reading at. You can read Lisa's exclusive report here. This week, Lisa emailed me further photos from the event which not only show Jake but also Lisa and Ted! Jake is in full Face Pet disguise... It is well worth keeping an eye on the website for further photos. Thanks so much, Lisa!

  

 

King of Persia

The King of Persia has been speaking about the Prince of Persia. Richard Coyle reveals here that he and Jake are still good friends. With this brief interview, the happy memories come flooding back, a fair few of them involving ostriches. 'I did a play in the West End called 'Proof' with Gwyneth Paltrow, and then John Madden - the director - made a movie of it with Gwyneth Paltrow. And Jake played Hal [Harold Dobbs], my part. So Jake had been to see the play and we chatted. We sort of bonded over it. When we met again on 'Prince of Persia' there was a kind of dynamic of older brother, younger brother. Probably just because of that but also because I had played his part and he'd come and watch me do the original. I suppose there was a mutual respect and that already helped us together. And we have a lovely dynamic now, we still speak often.' Click and this pic shall be much embiggened.

  

And finally...

Stephanie has kindly uploaded new old pictures from a photoshoot for Jake's appearance in the West End production This is Our Youth back in 2002. There are lots more there, so thanks to IHJ.

 

The Berlinale jury's love for Mike Leigh and WDW Interlude - Five years on!

You'll be delighted to hear that, according to president Mike Leigh, his Berlinale jury is 'very well-behaved'. That might well be because, according to The Hollywood Reporter, its members all want to work with him. As for Jake Gyllenhaal: 'I was incredibly excited to be asked because I am a big fan of Mike Leigh... I loved his films when I was a young boy. Being in a room with a number of artists and just talking about other work, I consider it a privilege and honor to be part of it.'

Thanks to IHJ for presenting these beautiful festival portraits. There's a lot to catch up on with the Berlinale and so watch this space!

WDW Interlude

I can't let 11 February pass by without mention, especially not this year. Today is five years since the most incredible adventure - the first time I saw Jake in person and met good friends who are a hugely important part of my life today. I can count my life-changing days on one hand and this is one of them. BAFTAs 2007. I've seen Jake quite a few times since over the years, as a fan and as press, for an instant or for an hour, and in all sorts of wonderful cities, but I doubt anything can compare with that freezing cold very long day in Covent Garden. It's not every day you ask Helen Mirren if she would budge so that you can get a better view of Jake Gyllenhaal... Thanks to Ruby, Anouska and Jake for such an amazing, unforgettable, perfect day!

Jake Gyllenhaal in Japan's Screen ahead of Friday's Source Code's release and Duncan presents SC to BAFTA tonight

If you live in Japan, you don't need me to remind you that this Friday your long, long wait for Source Code will end at last. Finally, you'll be able to acquaint yourselves with Colter, aka Jake Gyllenhaal, and see for yourselves why the film attracted so much interest, for Jake and for director Duncan Jones. With many thanks to our good friend in Japan Mayumintolor, here are pictures of Jake's appearance in the magazine Screen on 21 October.My Japanese is a little rusty so I can't make out what it says but I think on page 1 is says 'Jake is hot'.

Tonight, Duncan is hosting a screening of Source Code in London for BAFTA members, followed by a Q&A. One hopes that something very important will come out of this - votes.

Talking of votes and following Jake's appearance in some curious polls, it's become clear that it's time we had another poll on WDW. At the moment we're in the process of having a poll on what poll to do. So, if you have a preference, an idea, do post a comment.

End of Watch is about to wrap - in Las Vegas - and a trip down that Gyllenhaal memory lane

We have big news tonight, my friends. Many of us have been waiting to hear this for quite some time. It will very soon be time for Jake Gyllenhaal to put away the hair shavers and rescue that Face Pet from wherever the poor beastie has been locked away. Today comes news that principal photography on End of Watch will end this coming Tuesday - ie, tomorrow! - in LA. However, there is a minor blip in Jake's hair regeneration - Jake will be filming briefly in Vegas. He'll be there alone, without Michael Pena, and so, one could construe from this that it'll be a brief excursion.


As we all know, Jake had some long and tiring nights filming in Vegas all those years ago for Bubble Boy (above with Danny Trejo). Do have a listen to the commentary for this because it contains some very funny memories from Jake of the Vegas shoot, and a little bit of singing from what I recall. Also some tickling.

And finally

With thanks to BBMISwear for the link, here is a trip down memory lane. I hope you enjoy this half as much as I did. Some wonderful clips - I could look at young Jakewith his BAFTA over and over.

Jake Gyllenhaal and his amazing magical powers - on and off the screen

John Barrowman, aka Captain Jack, is a favourite of mine, not least because I first saw him on BAFTA Day 2007 when John did his bit to entertain us during that long and cold wait for a certain rather gorgeous movie star to turn up. By the sound of it, it wasn't just me who got a thrill when the announcement came that Jake Gyllenhaal had just got out of his car and was walking our way.


'John Barrowman has a soft spot for Jake Gyllenhaal. The Torchwood star would like to share an on-screen snog with the 29-year-old hunk. 'I've been pretty lucky to have kissed some fabulous women,' John, 43, admits. 'I've also kissed some of the most fabulous men but Jake Gyllenhaal is lovely - just take your clothes off, Jake!'' A classic almost poetic phrase there, I'm sure you'll agree, And, back in 2008, when Jake beat John to win AfterElton's Top 100 Hottest, Captain Jack had no complaints.


Meanwhile, commentators - largely in the US - continue to lambast Prince of Persia despite its huge success beyond those shores. With thanks to Tas for the link, you can read here an interesting feature, which lists the 36 films that have made $200 million or more internationally, with less than 30% coming from the US. PoP is listed at no. 20 and there are some great movies on this list - Schindler's List, Fifth Element and The Full Monty. Many of these films have proven themselves stayers, judging by the number of times Fifth Element is shown on UK TV...


Jake Gyllenhaal has charmed far and wide with Prince of Persia and its publicity tour. I particularly enjoyed this article from Canada which shows yet again what happens when Jake lets loose that most formidable weapon - his charm. Or, as this article puts it, his magical powers that extend far beyond the screen.


'While his character Dastan's superpowers in the mystical lands of Persia come from an ancient dagger that has the ability to turn back time, Gyllenhaal's real life magic comes from copious charisma and an ability to make even the most jaded journalists break out into thunderous laughter on command. He instantly cranks up his own brand of charm upon entering an intimate hotel room with a handful of Toronto media, teasing a pretty young reporter about her clunky radio equipment. "Wow, old school!" he says, pretending to use all of his strength to wind it up. "Can you repeat that please?" he quips in the most timid of girly voices. The 29-year-old actor has just finished making another young female scribe blush by calling her a "vision in white" during their one-on-one interview down the hall.'


'Despite the number one question from the press being "How did you get those abs?," Gyllenhaal has lost much of the bulk he put on while filming eighteen months ago and his unimposing stature is a far cry from the mega-muscle-man who appears on the film's posters. He admits to loading up on plenty of Baskin Robbins ice cream to celebrate the end of the regimented training schedule and strict diet he was forced to follow for the role, which also required him to adopt a British accent for the first time in his career. All the gruelling work clearly paid off, with Gyllenhaal calling the female frenzy "flattering," especially when a theatre full of fans at a recent Los Angeles screening chanted "take off your shirt" relentlessly.'


'Gyllenhaal recently showed "Prince of Persia" to his cousins - who range in age from six to 14 - and says their excitement reminded him of when he saw the "Indiana Jones" films for the first time as a child. "This movie was made for families to bring their kids," he says.'

'Of course, the gamers will also be front and centre in theatres, and Gyllenhaal fully expects to hear their criticism. "Video game movies have not been successfully adapted in the past and I think we have gone out of our way to interpret the video game as opposed to copy it which obviously draws criticism from the avid gamers who play the game all the time but I think it's the only way to make any movie that's based on a video game good," he says.'



'"The character I play in the movie is much more similar to me than any of the other characters I've ever played before," he explains. "I like to have a good time and not take myself too seriously."... Just before the interview is set to come to a close, a reporter throws out one final question: "Can you really do parkour??" she probes, at which point Gyllenhaal's publicist steps in to call it a wrap. "Uh, we gotta go..." he stammers nervously, never seeming to tire of playing the jokester. "We've gotta go, it's time to do parkour training!"' More here.



If you're unable to see the video embedded in the post, you can find it here. Jake, again, is in playful mode.



Includes pictures from Ruby and scans from WDW.

Love and Other Drugs a winner, Jake Gyllenhaal seen in NYC with Natalie Portman - and BAFTA Day!

While I get ready to settle down to the BAFTAs and cheer on Duncan Jones, Carey Mulligan and An Education, it's good indeed to read a review of Love and Other Drugs on IMDb from an early screening in Pasadena. And if Anne Hathaway's naked 'half the time', then I'd say there are pretty good odds that so may Jake Gyllenhaal.


'Just saw “Love and Other Drugs” last night at a preview screening in Pasadena. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe just another idiotic rom-com, but this movie is original, funny, unbelievably sexy, and really moving. And it’s about something. Have to admit I’ve never been much of a Jake Gyllenhaal fan, but here – as a slick Viagra salesman – he’s not only charming and witty, he’s also got this new, warm, strong and quiet leading man thing going. Anne Hathaway meanwhile burns up the screen, and not just because she’s naked half the time. Even when she’s dressed you simply can’t take your eyes off her. I thought she was good in “Rachel Getting Married,” but in this one – as a free-spirit arty girl with early-onset Parkinson’s – she’s very funny and really hard-core. My guess is another nomination will be coming her way. What else…? Josh Gad, who I recognized as one of the correspondents on The Daily Show, is the potty-mouthed younger brother. Sometimes it feels like he’s a refugee from a Judd Apatow movie, but he’s also sweet and innocent. Oliver Platt, who’s always good, is in it, too. And Judy Greer has got some funny stuff but she seems underused (like maybe they cut part of her story?)'


'I’m the big know-it-all who always predicts what’s going to happen next in a movie, but this time I was always surprised. One minute I was laughing hysterically and the next I found myself wiping tears away. Some people will compare it to “Jerry Maguire” – which I think is a truly great movie – but this one has real depth to it. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a comedy show a relationship with this kind of intimacy and authenticity. I don’t know how else to say it – I really believed these two people were in love, and so was I.'


Twitter sightings of Jake in the East Village, NYC, in book shops with Natalie Portman, suggest that he may be making an appearance alongside Natalie at tonight's Feed Foundation Event One. Let's hope we get some pictures!


I took a walk around London's Royal Opera House yesterday and preparations were well underway. The BAFTAs themselves deserve a gong, if only for getting the curling off the BBC...



Includes pictures from IHJ and WDW.

Jake Gyllenhaal can make terrible pancakes, Jake wears a shirt and Three years ago today...

Jake Gyllenhaal... terrible pancakes - two things that I never, ever expected to see in the same sentence. But it is true. Jake was so overwhelmed with the announcement of Maggie's Oscar nomination that even Ramona turned her nose up at his pancake offering on the morning of the good news.

{Apologies to all those who can't see this video due to ridiculous geographical restrictions - I'll try and come up with an alternative this evening.]



I can sympathise. This evening I received my Valentine surprise - frozen pancakes that you revive by bunging in the microwave for a few seconds. The horror is writ large on my non-smiling face.



Jake was photographed yesterday with Peter Sarsgaard in the other Venice. The photos can be seen on the IHJ forum but one has made it to People. Jake continues his mannikin shirt in, shirt out look - see previous WDW GyllenGuide to Wearing a Shirt Post.


Today Jake has been hard at work creating promos for Prince of Persia: 'Jake Gyllenhaal was so cool and so chill, we joked around and had a great time, you'll see the Promo's sooon!'

Today is such a significant day for me and I know I mention it every year but no apologies. Today is the third anniversary of meeting my Bafta Sisters Ruby, Anouska and Mouk in London. We also saw another chap that day for the first time, face to face. Life changing, it really was.



Pictures from links, IHJ and a nostalgic and sentimental WDW.

A wet summer interlude - 'I got poked by a lot of umbrellas' says Jake

Well, we can't say that Jake didn't warn us... As the rain cascaded today, with the ferocity of a Niagran water feature, I was given a timely reminder of the lesson of The Day After Tomorrow. Not the lesson that when stuck in an instant Ice Age you'd be better off burning furniture than tax laws, but that on certain days there's nothing you can do about it - the rain will pour, the floods will deluge and hail the size of cricket balls will smash your hybrid. And all I had was a brolly.


With the realisation that the Day After Tomorrow is, in fact, Today, and before the twisters devastate the coffee houses of the northern hemisphere and we are driven south to idyllic beaches, I thought I'd be wise to take a quick look at the significance of this film for our times. The potential imminence of its subject was brought home by NASA's denial that the film existed: '"No one from NASA is to do interviews or otherwise comment on anything having to do with" the film, the message read, according to the Times. "Any news media wanting to discuss science fiction vs. science fact about climate change will need to seek comment from individuals or organizations not associated with NASA."' Al Gore did not have such doubts.


Time to find out what Jake Gyllenhaal thinks: '"Dennis Quaid plays [my] father and ... he has to find me in Manhattan and all this crazy sh-- happens... But more than that, he's trying to warn the government about the environment and what's happening, but they're not listening. And tornadoes hit California, and tidal waves sweep over Manhattan, and that's what happens when the government doesn't listen." To research the role, Gyllenhaal met with scientists to discuss the potential effects of global warming. "I learned that these things could actually happen... I learned that cars and power plants are the biggest things that are destroying the environment. If we could all just drive hybrid cars — I just drove one the other day and it ... looks kind of pimpin' — we could make progress and change a lot in a short amount of time."'


'Having learned so much about the environment in preparing for "The Day After Tomorrow," Gyllenhaal was frustrated to learn that recent polls indicate kids are not concerned with global warming. "I think that we take it for granted," he said. "When I grew up we had Earth Day at my school. I feel that I was pretty aware of what was going on. And we had recycling bins. I know that Manhattan has stopped recycling for a while and I know that they plan on bringing it back, but I think that they're just not aware of it because there are so many things that are being invented right now. Cars having [automatic] air-conditioning when it gets too hot or central heating when it gets too cold. It's continually destroying things that we don't recognize. We're kind of blind to it, but it's not our fault."'


Several lessons here - hybrid cars are 'pimpin' and some cars have air conditioning that doesn't just involve winding down a window, or, as I witnessed last week, driving while holding the driver's door slightly ajar.


At the NYC premiere, fake snow fell on the crowds, which then melted leading to its own set of problems: 'How about this snow, Mr. Quaid? ''This is, uh, something,'' he replies. He looks down at his soaked feet and lifts one foot. ''You can't get a cab in weather like this, either. It's just too bad.'' You said it. Our new sandals are ruined. ''Incoming!'' hollers JAKE GYLLENHAAL, who plays the scientist's son, as he lobs a snowball down the aisle. ''What do you think about being a hunk?'' a reporter from US Weekly asks him. ''The real question is, a hunk of what?'' Mr. Gyllenhaal says, as he reaches forward and gently touches her face. ''You have a little soap on your chin,'' he says.'


Of course there's rain and then there's British rain, as all will remember from the sodden Baftas of 2006: 'And Jake Gyllenhaal said: "The rain adds a personal British flair. I got poked by a lot of umbrellas - an experience I've not had on a carpet before."' People, resist the urge to poke Jake with your brolly!


Includes pictures from IHJ.

London remembers Heath - the progress continues...

On Sunday night, a large step was taken on that relentless and bittersweet progress towards 22 February and the Academy Awards, when Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTAs. It was an inevitable win but the lack of suprise didn't mean a lack of emotion.



The award was collected by Charles Roven, the producer of The Dark Knight: 'Knowing Heath, I know that he would be very humbled just to be in the company of the other performances that were also nominated this evening. I had the good fortune of making two films with Heath and I considered myself lucky just to have made one. The last one was The Dark Knight. He was, as an actor and a professional and a human being, one of a kind.'




It was also a big night for the director with whom Heath arguably had his closest actor-director relationship. Terry Gilliam was given the final award of the night, a fellowship of the Academy. And, backstage, he had this to say about a special actor and man: 'Everybody has said he was extraordinary, but we can't even begin to image what he was going to be. We only saw a tiny tip of the iceberg. But he's gone... It would have been nice if he had won more awards when he was alive, frankly. Heath was a genius. I really do think there was nothing he couldn't do. We hadn't seen anything yet. He was incredibly funny, his timing was brilliant, he could invent dialogue that kept me spinning all the time on Parnassus. And he was probably one of the greatest gentlemen I have known. It is a terrible loss. That is all.'



The Baftas are closely personal to me for all sorts of reasons and, watching the red carpet, with the shivering fans, the red glow at dusk and the umbrellas not dampening the glamour, I couldn't help but remember two years ago. It was good, though, to see some familiar faces - Daniel Craig, James McAvoy, Thandie Newton.


The picture below wasn't taken by me but I can't have been many feet away and it's how I remember it.


Includes pictures by IHJ and WDW.