Maggie Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale and the Batmobile have reached Spain - the premiere there was held last night at the Barcelona Coliseum Cinema and Maggie looked just sensational. Apparently, The Dark Knight has now taken more at the box office, in a little less than a week, than Batman Begins did during its entire run.
Before Maggie left the British Isles, she recorded an interview with Vernon Kay (British presenter and husband of Tess Daly) for Radio 1 of the BBC. You can listen to it here. If anyone has trouble listening to the interview - especially if you're overseas or if you're Twisted Logic - do email me. Interestingly, Vernon plays Mad World, the theme of Donnie Darko, and asks Maggie if she enjoyed making that film. She did - it was 'fun' and 'wild', mostly because it was made with her little brother. And thanks to Sheba for the link to a Sky video interview with Maggie on the London red carpet - I have still to find the one that I saw recorded but great to see this.
A timeless art
Inspired by a great conversation about the theatre in the comments to the last post, I wanted to do a link to these two articles from the Telegraph, which date from he days that Jake Gyllenhaal was striding the boards of the West End. Despite the critic's stated belief that Jake was in Jurassic III, which I believe he was not (I think we might have noticed), he declares that the influx of three hot American youths was just the thing to rejuvenate London theatre.
Jake played Warren: 'Just the sight of Warren's awkward dancing and over-eager snogging reduced me to tears of laughter and poignant recognition of my own distant youth. Laurence Boswell directs this marvellous trio of actors with both confidence and an illuminating attention to detail. Gyllenhaal seizes all his chances as Warren, a beautiful and befuddled loser. But he also movingly suggests a lovable, vulnerable character just beginning to grow into maturity.'
And here, you can read another reporter from the Telegraph write about the 'extraordinary thing' happening at the Garrick Theatre. She concludes: 'I discovered theatre in that way. I arrived in London on cheap day returns, bought student standbys and began to explore this strange world where you sit quietly in the dark and let someone take you by the hand and tell you a story. I was quickly hooked, but sometimes, even now, I am struck by the oddity of the habit. When a play is dull, or the production doesn't convince, and the queue for the loos stretches all the way to out to the street, I wonder why I am wasting my time. But then I see a play like This Is Our Youth, and I am entranced all over again. So, to all those first-timers, I say stick with it. You may suddenly find yourself in love with this timeless art in which people pretend to be someone else and touch a chord in your own heart.'
As someone who, as a student, did line up for returns at London's theatres every Saturday afternoon and saw duds as well as some amazing performances I'll never forget, I love to hear that Jake is seen by some to have played a part in the rejuvenation of a much loved art form and source of enormous pleasure and satisfaction, for both audiences and their actors.
Jake himself has said of the theatre: 'I just think I’m fed by it. I’m sucked dry by film and I think I’m fed by theatre. There’s a start and stop to film where you give and you give and you give, and you don’t have that give and take like you do in the theatre, and I think it’s just necessary. I get rid of bad habits, but it just fills me.'
What a day - and, the day after, all the bruises, aches, pains and fatigue feel well worth it - Premiere Syndrome. All day as you're crammed into a space that is so small that you literally cannot retrieve a thing from the bag wedged between your ankles without everyone around you bracing themselves and each other to avoid collapsing like a coil of dominoes, you think you won't do this again. And then, after 6 hours, 8 hours or longer, you watch the carpet going down, you play games with some of the security and other attendants, the special effects are tested and you hear the noise of the Batmobile revving somewhere outside the Square and you know you'd do it again.
The security was a mess and we were manhandled into an unmarked area where the barricades would go. Because it was unmarked, many people who'd been there since breakfast time were left without a place and ended up behind huge screens and the press, with no chance of seeing a thing. Apparently, the security guy responsible is known for his unpleasant crowd control at London's premieres and has a reputation, preserved on YouTube apparently, that he feel he must maintain. So I got separated from the others and was wedged in, fortunately in a place with a great view right opposite the Odeon entrance, to the right of the press and just where the interviews took place. I was luckily attached to a group of Harry Potter fans who kept me well entertained and fed with chocolates.
We talked about Heath Ledger a lot. I wore my green stripes with pride and one of the HP girls wore a Heath t-shirt. They had planned, a year ago, to be here to see Heath. We'd done just the same thing. The sense of someone massive and important and loved being missing was extremely palpable and made the whole affair emotional and I think it affected the mood on and off the red carpet.
The interviewer rehearsed to camera and did a rolecall for those attending and said Maggie Gyllenhaal but with a hard G. I wasn't having that! So I yelled out 'That's Jill-enhaal, not Gill-enhaal!' And he got it right for the rest of the evening.
One thing I couldn't believe was that right up until the barriers went up, people, especially tourists, were asking us why we were there! This was despite huge lettering on the Odeon saying The Dark Knight European premiere, the fire special effects, the sound of bats and the huge posters around us and the security - 'Are you waiting for a film?' In a manner of speaking.
At last they got the carpet down - red with a black bat. We heard it before we saw it - the Batmobile came down the carpet, fire shooting out of its exhaust and making a sound like you wouldn't believe. Then the audience began to arrive and the HP fans with me were very lucky because there seemed to be a neverending supply of Harry Potter 'kids', including Draco, Luna and Neville.
The girls also pointed out a long line of Hollyoaks actresses and Bob Geldolf daughters in very high heels but at least I had heard of Mcfly. Not surprisingly, Doctor Who's nemesis The Master, John Simm, attracted a lot of attention (as did Kelly Osbourne's new haircut).
Personally, I was pleased to see Gary Lineker but I couldn't get a picture of him as Michael Caine was being interviewed right by us and I was trying to avoid having my eye poked out by TDK pictures which were being shoved past me for Sir Michael's autograph.
We'd been told by a guy there that Gary Oldman was a no and there was a 'question mark over Morgan Freeman' - neither of whom turned up. Michael Caine was the first to arrive but he took such a great amount of time signing autographs (while being shadowed by the bodyguard from Jake and Reese's Paris weekend!), Aaron Eckhart was the first of the cast we saw and Christian Bale was the last.
Finally I could see Maggie a little down the carpet, signing away, with Peter Sarsgaard keeping a little distance, towards the centre of the carpet. She looked gorgeous, tall and pale in the flowing black and backless cat suit. She walked past me and headed straight to the press a few feet away to pose. I called her name and she said she'd come back - unfortunately she wasn't able to as everyone was being called into the theatre. Ruby remembers that someone called out 'Maggie, your brother is hot!' No argument there...
After everyone was in we were hoping that the cast would appear on the balcony but they didn't. Instead after doing some photographs inside the foyer and after quickly popping into the auditorium, they were out. Big silver cars parked on the red carpet outside and they were out like a shot, Maggie waving as she got into the car. Helsbells got some pictures of Peter at this point, and also got some other pictures of Maggie - and here they are (thanks Helen!)
Finally, at about 7.30, it was all over and we were released from our pen. We headed automatically to the bar across Leicester Square and I downed a pint of Peroni in one. We all toasted Heath.
I must thank Ruby, Anouska, Winterbird, Helsbells and Freetraveller for sharing the day, although for some of that day communication could only take place through shouts and wild arm gestures. (In this blurred picture below, you can see Peter to the right of Maggie in the background - I did call his name and he looked over but this was very much Maggie's night and he went nowhere near the barriers and crowds - Edited to add, I see from a YouTube video that Peter did sign further away from the Odeon.)
This YouTube video, shot just a couple of feet from where I was standing, gives some idea of what the whole affair was like. Seeing other YouTube videos of the event makes me appreciate just how close I was and how lucky I was. I also see from one of them that it looks like Christian Bale was attended at one point by our old favourite 'Officer K', Jake's other BG!
Pictures from WDW and Helen. Prince of Persia begins filming today and Jerry 'finally got' Jake!
Jerry Bruckheimer has been talking about the Prince of Persia: 'The trademark feature of all the games is the playable character's jumping across a gap and grabbing a ledge with his hands to pull himself up. Will fans see that signature move in the movie? "Well, we'll try," Bruckheimer said... "We're starting Prince of Persia on Tuesday [July 22]," Bruckheimer said. "We're prepping all the locations right now. The actors are rehearsing. It's very close. I leave tomorrow to go up there."... Bruckheimer shared his excitement for making a movie with Gyllenhaal, who has been on the producer's radar for a long time. "I've always wanted to work with him," Bruckheimer said. "I've been chasing him for a while, so I finally got him, finally found something he liked."'
Last night, at long, long last, the premiere of The Dark Knight took place in New York City at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square IMAX screen. And there was no mistaking who was the belle of the ball - Maggie Gyllenhaal looked absolutely stunning and Peter Sarsgaard could do nothing but glow with pride. Absent in many ways, but not in all, from the black carpet was Heath Ledger whose presence was clearly felt and who was represented by his family who entered the theatre quietly. For memories of the man, the actor and the Joker, please read this.
And finally...
Another picture from Paris of one Jake Gyllenhaal...
This time last year, Zodiac was finally out in our theatres and we had months to go before the next Oscar nominations, feeling that Zodiac would not be nominated despite the widespread critical acclaim for the film and its cast. Now, the buzz begins for the 2009 Academy Awards and, this time, it's possible that Brothers, with Jake Gyllenhaal, and The Dark Knight, with Heath Ledger and Maggie Gyllenhaal, might be among the nominees. There is even talk that Heath may now get that Oscar.
The Metro today reported: 'Heath Ledger could still win an Oscar after a film critic tipped the late actor to scoop the gong for his role as the Joker in the new Batman film, The Dark Knight. The Aussie, who died of a drugs overdose in January aged 28, is hailed as "mad-crazy-blazing brilliant" by Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers. He said: "If there's a movement to get him a posthumous Oscar, then sign me up."' Read the Rolling Stone article here for more superlatives for Heath.
This opinion, that a posthumous Oscar may be a possibility, is repeated in a set of ET video interviews recorded with each of the cast of The Dark Knight - with one exception. You can see a compilation video here. Christian Bale says of Heath's performance and how audiences will watch it: 'It's unlike any portrayal we've seen before. I think they will celebrate his talent and applaud him for that because he does do a phenomenal job.'
The video feature makes a point that this was the second time Heath acted with a Gyllenhaal, showing clips of Brokeback Mountain. You can see all of Maggie Gyllenhaal's interview here and in it she speaks about what it was like to see Heath on the screen as the Joker: 'I found it very, very difficult at first and then... He's so astonishing in the movie that I - I can only speak for myself - but I very quickly found myself watching the Joker. Maybe as a way of protecting myself but also because he's so good.'
The New York premiere of The Dark Knight is now just two weeks away - on 14 July - and the whole affair, as well as the film itself, appears to be dedicated to Heath and to fellow Aussie Conway Wickliffe, a special effects technician, who died during the making of the film. Heath's family is expected to attend. The premiere in London is a week later, on July 21.
A different FNIT?
Thanks to a poster at DC, here are a couple of stills from the television version of Brokeback Mountain that was shone on the Bravo channel at the weekend. Although much of the first tent scene was not shown - a view of a trembling tent was deemed sufficient - it included film of Jack unbuckling his belt shot from an angle not seen before. Intriguing indeed.
And finally
After yesterday's post, with its talk of Joe Namath and Jake's suitability to play a football star, today another player mentions Jake. Jason Peter, who has written his autobiography and is presumably known beyond British shores, when asked hypothetically which actor would play him in the movie said 'Jake Gyllenhaal' - because his wife said so. Sensible lady. Thanks to Nicole, here's a clipping of the Parade piece that featured the question about Jake.
Includes pictures from Parade, IHJ, Empire, The Dark Knight.
Obviously, if England had managed to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament we would be getting ready to watch them lose in the final tonight, but they didn't and they won't and so instead we can sit back for some stress-free footie fun as Spain and Germany take each other on. It does make a change from the tennis, after all.
So through this extremely tenuous link, it seems appropriate that in a Q&A at the beginning of the new Parade magazine, there is a question about Jake: 'Is it true that Jake Gyllenhaal will star in a biopic about New York Jets great Joe Namath? A: Yes. Jake - who says he's often told he resembles the lengendary playboy-quarterback - is looking forward to playing "Broadway Joe." But the red-hot star has a busy dance card, and it could be a while before he slips on Joe's famous NO. 12 Jets jersey. Jake will soon start shooting Prince of Persia and has two other movies that already wrapped. Nailed, a political satire with Jessica Biel, and Brothers, involving the Afghan war, with Tobey Maguire.' Thanks to Trekfan for the information!
Jake has said 'I used to play football here and there, but I don't anymore.' No doubt, that will have to change in the run up to the biopic. Back in 2006, Jake was seen attending a game in Texas along with Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey. He may have to catch some more games.
The possible sightings of Jake and Reese around London - being listed as among the attendees of the Nelson Mandela birthday concert and shopping in London at the weekend - gather pace and I wonder if Jake's going to be spending this evening in the traditional English manner of watching 'proper' football over a pint of lager and some pork scratchings. But Spain or Germany?
'He was a good man' - Christian Bale on missing Heath
For the main focus of Parade - Christian Bale and The Dark Knight - you can find out more here, including this quote from Christian about Heath Ledger: 'He was a unique character, a very infectious character. He was a good man, and I was glad to have spent time with him. He was somebody who I’d been seeing on a daily basis for months. It takes a long time to accept that someone’s gone, when all body and mind are telling you that this is somebody you will know for a great deal of time. He was something of a kindred spirit to myself.'
