Jake Gyllenhaal - the UN of sports. Jake on ESPN radio and taking a leap of faith

While Jake Gyllenhaal has been out and about publicising Prince of Persia he has also been a source of interest to America's sports commentators because of his West/East split personality when it comes to that mysterious world of basketball - known in the USA as 'NBA'. Jake was a guest on ESPN Radio and again he faced questions on his Jekyll/Hyde Lakers/Celtics split personality - Jake concluded that he was the UN of sports. There was also talk of Damn Yankees and Joe Namath (or Mr Namath, as Jake refers to him). You can listen to the broadcast here.


In another interview released today, you can see Jake and Gemma Arterton (known to ESPN as 'Gemma who?') talk about their roles and relationship in PoP. gemma talks about the frission between herself and Jake and talks about what a funny guy Jake is.



IF Magazine has published an interview with Jake which is well worth a read: '"There were a lot of movies that I read, and there were movies that I was offered that I really liked, but it was all about the character for me,” admits Gyllenhaal. “I chose the movie because the character was about the relationship between Princess Tamina and Prince Dastan and about family. But ultimately, [Dastan] was wry and did cool stuff and always had a great thing to say that wasn't too ‘winky winky’ at the audience. He felt like this classic kind of character.”


“Jerry would comment while I was working out and say ‘nope, bigger biceps please,’” Gyllenhaal says with a smile. “And I was like ‘yes’ and ‘no problem... When I got the role I started to play [it again] for an extended time and there were moments on set when I would be like just ‘seriously wait a second,’” recalls Gyllenhaal.'


'“In the ‘sand room’ we had a green slide that was basically plywood,” says Gyllenhaal. “That was hugely high and at the very bottom of it was a pad with three stuntmen around it. And I was sliding down this green thing, and it was fast, so I had to do it fast. And it was so much fun. There was no safety on either side. So if you slid off, you would just slide off and just fall. I don't know if there were even pads there. There was one stunt my first jump, that was like a 35-foot jump and I was really pretending I wasn't nervous about it and I was going to be all good with it, but I was pretty terrified about it. It's in the trailer of the movie. I've run and then I basically just jump and I looked over 100 times and I remember saying ‘screw it I have to trust these guys and do it’ and I did it.'


'But things like that happened every day as we were coming up with new ideas. I would look at the video game, and I would say ‘what about this’ and they would incorporate it and then all of a sudden I would be up on the wire for two hours. There was another thing that we found somewhere, where out of the middle of nowhere, we thought that I should dive on this guy from above and I did it three times. And I looked at it on playback, and it doesn't even look like a human being falling from the air. It was so weird.”'


'“I usually make choices based on filmmakers and definitely story, but no matter how good the story is if you don't have faith in a filmmaker, it's hard to deliver and give your heart,” says Gyllenhaal. “And Ang Lee was like a no-brainer and I can say it, because I lived it, whether it's a totally obscure movie about two sheepherders who end up falling in love in Wyoming or whether a movie like this – it's the people involved that give you the confidence to do hopefully your best work. That's how I feel.”'


Pictures from Disney.

Jake Gyllenhaal: Acting is not all about Stravinsky and 'You've just got to live your life, ay ay ay'

Apparently there are some in the media who seem to think that Jake Gyllenhaal's buffed up Prince of Persia bod is not what Gyllenhaalics want to see for almost two hours, sometimes shirtless, on a huge movie screen, set off by sun, sweat, robes, beads, sandy deserts and exotic feisty princesses and big birds and magnificent horses. I beg to differ and in this article in today's New York Post, there is a familiar and much-loved voice speaking up for Jake's hot bod. After all, one can't be Donnie Darko and 19 forever. In the picture below, Jake models the Prince of Persia figure, in a manner of speaking.


'But Gyllenhaal, who’s better known for his acting than his abs, seems a slightly awkward fit for the role of a big-budget swashbuckling hero. And as “P of P” is supposedly the successor to the wildly successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, Jake’s carrying a lot of weight on those newly chiseled shoulders. Question is, will his fans go for the new look? “I was a bit skeptical at first, but now that I’ve seen photos and footage from the movie, I definitely think he pulls it off,” says Stephanie, who runs the fan site IHeartJake.com. “He looks hot. I don’t mind the muscles and the long hair at all. I actually prefer the ‘Prince of Persia’ look over his look in a lot of his older films.”' Me too! Good job, Steph!


The Arizona Republic has a great interview with Jake today - you can read it all there - but here are some of my favourite quotes: '(After) the premiere in LA . . . a friend of mine texted me and said, "I had dreams of sand and sandstorms, sliding down sand dunes." And I was like, yeah, well that was six months of work, of actually doing that myself, to find its way into somebody's dream.'


'A lot of times you make movies that look at the world in a very, very, very serious way. And I think that's important. There are a lot of things going on that we need to get a certain perspective on. But then I think it's also important to have a great humor and to enjoy yourself and have fun, just to be able to play. I even read an article recently about how people live longer and have better lives when they get to play, like kids on a playground. This movie was like that for me. It was a great time that I had running around fighting with sticks like a little kid. It's always important to go back to those places.'


And we have a fine example of GyllenSpeak: 'I think a lot of people would consider acting - at least I did earlier on in my career, and I know I'm still young - but a lot of people would consider a really great performance in a movie to be a portrait. I remember hearing Judi Dench talking about acting like a piano. You need to be able to play all different chords and all different notes on a piano, not only just minor, intense chords with an unresolved cadence but also major chords with resolved cadences. All different musical pieces involve all different types of emotion. For a long time, I thought only legitimate acting is really intense, you know, Stravinsky. And now I have to admit, a big part of myself loves to turn on the radio, and a lot of my playlist is a lot of great pop music. I'm treating myself.'


And Jake also is well aware that if you say the name Joe Namath on this side of the Atlantic you're likely to see some blank faces... 'It's funny, we just came back from all this international press, and they're like, "So what do you really want to do? What role would you really want to play?" And I'm like, "Joe Namath." And they'll be like, "What?" Yeah, that would be a dream come true, to play Mr. Namath. [Q: With the right haircut...] Well, you know what, man, I ain't afraid of the hair. Bring it on.'

'I hope people believe this, because it's really true - I got into shape so that I would be able to do those stunts. I wanted to do those stunts and I wanted to not get injured when I did them and I wanted to be able to pull them off. The only way to do that would be to get in really good shape, like all the stunt guys around me. And I did that. I don't think anybody expected there to be so much focus on the physical aspect. I haven't, I didn't, because it was all about really actually getting into functional shape. Hopefully, people will respond to this movie and I'll be able to show them some more.'


[Q: You've been in high-profile relationships and landed on plenty of tabloid covers. Does that ever affect decisions you make, like whom you might date, what movie you might make, that kind of thing?] 'I think I've seen people make decisions in their life that way, and I think I have maybe in the past tried to avoid certain things. I think it just ends up making you unhappy. In the words of T.I. and Rihanna, "You've just gotta live your life, ay ay ay."'

'To me, if I'm true to what I love watching, if I'm true to what I love doing and people are into it, I'm just going to try to keep doing that. I don't believe in making choices based on anything besides what my instincts are telling me. I would love to make big action movies. I had so much fun making this movie. The two movies I did after this, maybe it was a reaction to this, are a bit smaller but equally as commercial and equally as fun in different ways. . . . I'm sort of itching to get back to doing some action. I learned to buckle a little swash. Perhaps I should go back and do some swashbuckling. Once you learn how to buckle swash, you just can't go back.'


[Q: Your sister Maggie is an actress. Do you two criticize each other's movies and performances?] 'There's never any criticism of what she's done. I would be stupid. She's my older sister. I may be taller and bigger than her now, but I still have that little brother in me. It doesn't ever go away. So I don't mess with that. Really, the thing that matters to me, more than anything, is that she's there for me. I know she's got my back, and she knows I've got hers.' More here.


In another interview, with the Philly Inquirer, Jake mentions his old favourite Willow again, as an inspiration for PoP. '"When I think about being a kid, I think about the wonder of these movies. And I wanted to make a movie like that. And with Prince of Persia, I thought this is a little bit of all those things mixed into one." (Footnote for Willow aficionados: Gyllenhaal says that that film's star, Val Kilmer, served as "my inspiration for the hair in this movie" - and more. "Val really is an inspiration for this character," he insists.)'.

'Watching old Errol Flynn swashbucklers also helped Gyllenhaal get into the groove. "An absolute genius. He was a massive influence on this part, too."'


'Since making Prince of Persia (yes, he's signed a sequel clause, "so if people respond to it, I'm back"), the actor has starred in two more typically Gyllenhaalian projects: Source Code, "a science fiction action thriller" with Vera Farmiga, Michelle Monaghan, and Jeffrey Wright, from Duncan Jones, the director of the eerie art-house android piece, Moon. Love and Other Drugs, a romantic comedy with Gyllenhaal as a pharmaceutical salesman who woos Anne Hathaway. Ed Zwick wrote and directed. "It's set in 1995," Gyllenhaal reports, "when Viagra was invented. . . . My character is very proficient with the ladies, so he ends up being able to sell Viagra very, very well... Annie and I definitely got pretty intimate, because there are a lot of love scenes in the movie, a lot of sexy scenes in that movie. You have to let it all hang out, so to speak."'


Tomorrow the Prince of Persia publicity machine rolls on to New York City - do see the panel to the right on the WDW homepage for Jake's engagements for the week, kicking off tomorrow (Monday).

A WDW Interlude

Proving that one can go and see Prince and Persia at the cinema at every opportunity and still get out there in the sun enough to turn a peculiar shade of beetroot, today I was on a baby lemur hunt. I know Jake warns against cute and cuddly critters but I think even he could approach this little thing in safety. Not so sure about the pair in the bottom pic though...




Many thanks to IHJ for the (non-animally) pictures!

A new PoP featurette - The Princess of Persia - Jake Gyllenhaal makes the People most beautiful list and a Joe Namath update

We have a new Prince of Persia featurette this evening (I will do a catchup with Prince of Persia featurettes as soon as I've catalogued and classified them - I've catalogued Roman nails, I can catalogue Prince of Persia featurettes). This time the focus is on the Princess of Persia, the feisty Tamina aka Gemma Arterton but there is some Jake Gyllenhaal in it.



We even have captured here the punchline of one of Jake's infamous fish jokes...


There was a Disney press day today in London and it included a screening of the film introduced by Mike Newell. Understandably, no-one's allowed to say much as yet but there was this: 'Prince of Persia is wicked. Good adventure film. Part "Pirates" part "National Treasure" with a hint of "Indiana Jones". Its a great mix.'

Talking of Prince of Persia, I'm delighted to say that I appear to have several PoP books and keyrings in the post to me at the moment. I ordered these so long ago, it'll be quite a lucky dip, not to mention a heavy load for the postman.


People magazine has today announced it's most beautiful people and there amongst them is - not surprisingly - our Jake: 'He plays the adventurous – and buff! – Prince of Persia this summer, but off-screen the actor, 29, is a regular guy who doesn't need much to make him happy. "I feel my best after a home-cooked meal with family and friends," he says.' Is that a photo from the Mysterious Photoshoot that I see?

Elsewhere on the internet there is an article by original Joe Namath writer David Hollander suggesting that previous 'news' about the revival of the Joe Namath project with Jake Gyllenhaal at the helm may have been pure CGI. According to Hollander, the project has no studio, no linked star (it was Hollander who had wanted Jake for the role) and very little future. However, Hollander argues that if we all pay for our news then we will get the truth.

Iconic shirts, Jake's green fingers, Nailed for 2010?

The Brokeback legacy continues. The entwined shirts of Jack and Ennis, which symbolise both loss and love, have become iconic. As such, it seems fitting that they should be displayed in an exhibition designed to explore and mark the 'LGBT community’s contribution to the West and the Western genre.'


'Two cowboy shirts worn by actors Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the movie Brokeback Mountain are heading to The Autry National Center in Los Angeles. The two shirts have been intertwinded to represent "the struggle between heritage and acceptance in gay cowboy culture."'



A good cause

Jake Gyllenhaal is putting his green fingers to good use. The LA Times reports that a number of schools in Los Angeles are planting gardens and Jake, already known for his involvement with the Green Schools Initiative, is a mentor for one such project.


'The Environmental Media Assn. and Yes to Carrots have partnered with LAUSD to sponsor 10 new school garden projects, one of which will be at Saturn Elementary in L.A.. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal will be their mentor, and architect Rogerio Carvalheiro, who worked on the Getty Villa and Union Station, will work pro bono on the design. Once completed this fall, they hope to add a "scratch kitchen," where children will prepare the food they grow.' Teaching children about the environment and healthy living in a practical and outside setting is a great cause for Jake to be involved with.


Nailed out 2010?

The actor David Ramsey has just been interviewed about his role in the TV series Dexter but David was also asked about another recent role of his, that of Rep. Harshtone in Nailed. 'You mentioned the film Nailed with Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal. What can you tell us about that film and your role in it? "Catherine Keener, myself and Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman, play kind of the group of nemeses for Jake Gyllenhaal. It’s a political satire. And it was a lot of fun. We shot it over a year ago in Columbia, South Carolina and again, it’s another charactery role where I kind of get to play. David O. Russell directed it and he let me play. I’ve been fortunate to get to work with directors that let me play.."'


And the all-important question: 'Do you know when Nailed will come out? "Nailed is supposed to be out hopefully next year."' Hopefully indeed.

Meanwhile, film and sports sites are now reporting that Jake's role is confirmed for the Joe Namath biopic due to its appearance on IMDb. However, while any news on this is good news, it's worth bearing in mind that IMDb is simply reflecting information about the project which has been on IMDbPro for quite some time. And there has been no update there. But it is good to see a buzz about any project of Jake's. One can also hope that such projects - including Nailed - may get a bit of a boost from all the PoP exposure (and I use the word in every sense!).


Includes pictures from IHJ and links.

Is Jake a spinner? And Namath Project still 'in the works'

Demonstrating once more that we have Jake Gyllenhaal to thank for the invention of the white t-shirt, here we see Jake and Reese at Brentwood's Burn 60 gym yesterday. Judging by the shoes Jake is carrying (when arriving at the club?), it may be possible that Jake has been participating in the Turn 60 workout. Perhaps when spinning Jake is imagining himself in the Pyrenees with the Tour de France.


The photographers came too...


The much-loved curl of hair over the ear is back.


I do admire a girl who can wield a video camera while controlling a large dog and looking at Jake Gyllenhaal.


And finally...

I cam across this interview with writer David Hollander from March 2009 and, in a brief mention, it suggests that the Joe Namath Project has not been put to bed - David is working on the script (which was postponed during the writers' strike).


Big thanks to IHJ as always for the pictures!

Jake Gyllenhaal looks forward to playing Broadway Joe

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.'


Includes pictures from IHJ, Flickr and links.

Jake set to play sporting legend Joe Namath after all

Jake Gyllenhaal is to play Joe Namath, aka Broadway Joe, after all. That's according to Variety, a source which doesn't often let us down and has been reliable with both Brothers and The Moon Project. Jake was first connected with the project back in July. As yet, there is no director.

Variety tells us: 'Universal Pictures will turn the life of Joe Namath into a feature film, with Jake Gyllenhaal playing the Hall of Fame quarterback. David Hollander will write the script once the writers strike is over. Mad Chance's Andrew Lazar will produce. Jimmy Walsh, who runs Namanco Prods., exec produces.'


'Walsh said he and Namath OK'd the movie after a long pursuit by Lazar, a strong take by Hollander and the belief that the athletic Gyllenhaal was the right actor to play him... Gyllenhaal, who is coming off "Rendition" and "Zodiac," is currently shooting the Jim Sheridan-directed "Brothers" with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman and will follow that by teaming with Doug Liman on an untitled project at DreamWorks that revolves around a moon expedition.'

Speaking as someone who will undoubtedly see this film (think that's a cert) but who knows next to nothing about American football, I'm anxious to know that this as yet unnamed film will have appeal to audiences outside the US. I can definitely understand why sporty, athletic and fit Jake would want to portray a sporting legend, and the reasons why Joe Namath approved Jake to play him seem pretty obvious too, but European and international audiences don't routinely go and see films about American football or baseball. Although, to be fair, with the exception of Bend It Like Beckham, I don't think many of them would see a film about soccer either.


So the answer may lie in the character and personality of Joe Namath himself. Although he's largely unknown in this neck of the woods, reading about his life, excesses, adventures and moments of genius on and off the field, may indicate that there will be far more to this film than a serious of winning goals and kicks. As Variety says 'While other quarterbacks racked up bigger lifetime stats, Namath became the first football player to achieve rock-star status. The pic will tell the story of how the golden-armed kid from Beaver Falls, Pa., became Broadway Joe, the New York Jets quarterback who became a '60s cultural figure.' But if Joe has approved it, and this will be the 'authorised' version of his life, how sanitised will it be?


British site Filmstalker believes the film could work over here: 'Perhaps there have been loads of American Football films, it's just that they aren't big outside the U.S.? Well this one has the potential to be, as long as they think about that non-American Football audience when they're making it.'

Empire has this to say: 'OK, non-Yankee readers, we know you don't care about American 'football' but try to forget that for the length of this story. Got your shoulder pads ready? OK. Jake Gyllenhaal is lined up to play American football legend Joe Namath, the game's first modern superstar.'


'Namath was a '60s cultural icon who played for the New York Jets, where the owner paid him a record salary and turned him loose on New York to raise hell in the night clubs and spend his dough on fur coats and women. Namath became an advertising magnet, taking his league, the American Football League, from red-headed stepchild levels to NFL competitor status, leading to a merger between the two. He also helped turn 'football' into a major TV force, and made good on his personal guarantee to beat the Baltimore Colts (the favourites) in Super Bowl III - all on knees so bad that he was turned down for the Vietnam draft... But what do you think, readers? Will any film about American football ever make a dent in this country? Or are you, like us, far more intrigued by that moon project?' (Someone else keen to see The Moon Project!)


I rather liked this picture of what might be in store: 'Hopefully we can expect plenty of earned bragadacio, hairy chests, overcoming long odds, fur coats and bedfulls of quarter back on groupie sex sprinkled with liberal alcohol consumption...'

Of course, this project brings with it some risks (to counteract the distinct possibility of more scenes like That Rendition Scene), not least of which is that this:


may be replaced by this:


meaning we may want to see more of this:


The Gotham Awards

Unfortunately, I'm Not There didn't win any prizes at the independent Gotham Awards held last night in Brooklyn. Honours instead went to films by Sean Penn and Michael Moore. But good to see Maggie. Maggie's a busy lady at the moment, attending a succession of glamorous events in the city. There's another tonight according to the New York Post: 'November 28, 2007 -- CALVIN Klein is destroying his own ad in the name of art. To help promote the Dec. 1 opening of the New Museum on the Bowery, Klein allowed the institution's advertisers to drip oozing pink paint over his Houston Street billboard of Lara Stone and Jamie Burke wearing his jeans. The label, along with Julianne Moore and Maggie Gyllenhaal, will host an intimate soiree tonight at the museum, and the hot pink ooze will drip down the billboard until Monday.'


And finally...

Robert Graysmith and David Fincher are not the only people to have become obsessed with uncovering the identity of the Zodiac killer. It seems Britney Spears was gripped by the movie and has now set about solving the case herself. 'The recent film Zodiac about the case starring Jake Gyllenhaal, 26, captured Britney’s imagination. She has been spending hours on a website called zodiackiller.com and is convinced she can crack the case as many people believe the culprit is still alive.' Not sure I'm feeling too reassured by that.


Includes pictures from Variety and IHJ.