If you've not been following the voyages of the Enterprise or have avoided raucous goings on in the Smithsonian, you may have noticed that Tom Hanks is back in the theatres sorting out the mysteries of the universe in scenic places. The success of Angels and Demons for director Ron 'I Love Richie' Howard will no doubt be huge, giving him an escape from his part time job of appearing in music videos.
Ron appeared on The View last week alongside Tom Hanks and others who were entertained by Ron's cameo in Blame It and he was asked to explain how it happened. Jamie Foxx asked Ron at the Obama Inauguration and, caught up with the love and good feeling of this historic event, Ron assumed he was being asked to appear in a We Are The World type video. Instead, he got red lights, booze and dancing girls. The upside is that he did get to sit in a car with Jake Gyllenhaal and he too may have been allowed to keep a hat. You can see a video of this interview with Ron here.
The video below gives us a little taster of the jollity that went on behind the scenes during the video shoot when all concerned were encouraged to show their 'party face'. Fortunately, we get a glimpse of Jake's.
The song is released in the UK at the end of June so we may get to see Jake on our TV screens this summer after all.
Film of the Day - Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko gets a showing on Britain's BBC2 tonight as the Film of the Day, hopefully allowing new audiences a taste of a film that for them too could become a discussion point for years. In 2001, a snippet about rising star Jake appeared in Interview magazine: 'A self-professed "odd, wacky, weird kid" growing up, Gyllenhaal, 20, is playing the same kinds of characters. And that's fine by him: "There should be more movies that say, 'So you're going through some abnormal shit? Hey, it's just a part of growing up. Feeling like an oddball is OK.'"' IT's difficult to think of any film in which this is better expressed than Donnie Darko, or any other actor who could possibly have embodied it more convincingly and soulfully. So, if you're able, 10.30pm, tonight, BBC2.
This post is interrupted by a warning of extreme heat in California - Jake Gyllenhaal was spotted today leaving a medical center in BH. You are advised to get a medical check yourself before embiggening these pictures... Don't say I didn't warn you.
Our very favourite Staff Sgt, Jamie Foxx, has been talking about his inspiration for getting his celebrity chums together to make cameo appearances in the video for Blame It. It turns out it had nothing whatsoever to do with getting publicity for his new single - it's all because of the energy generated by a certain new President of the United States at his inauguration. This is what happens when you seat Jamie Foxx next to Ron Howard's mum...
'I was actually at the inauguration and there was so much great energy and there was Ron Howard and I sat next to his mom. I actually sang for her at the inauguration, just singing, and she started to tear up and we just bonded and the whole family just bonded ... so I was telling Mr. Howard, "Listen, how about you do a music video?" He's like, "What?" (I said), "Do this music video. I got a song coming out, I think it's going to be the song of the year and if you do it man, I would appreciate it." And he said, "I'll give you my number and call me." I said I'm going to ask Forest Whitaker and let him know that you're in, so I walked over and asked Forest and I asked Samuel and Samuel was like, "What! Want me to do what?" And I was like man it would be something fun. And then I called Jake Gyllenhaal who's my friend, I said, "Man, please come down, Ron Howard's going to be here." He said, "Listen Jamie, you don't have to lie to me, I'll come down. You know I don't come out and do things but I'll do it for you."'
Fast work indeed - the Inauguration was, I believe, on 20 January and the first pics were released just ten days later, on 30 January. However, one must be grateful to the pulling power of such friendships because, as Jake said, he rarely does these things.
Meanwhile, Ashley Tisdale - a.k.a. Dorky Girl in Donnie Darko - has been talking about her one scene with Jake in the aforementioned film - it's the one in the school hall where Donnie (and Dorky Girl) put questions to Dodgy Jim. I have never seen a High School Musical film (a.k.a. HSM), neverthless, it's great to hear Ashley talk about working with Jake because, hot on the heels of Gemma (a.k.a. Feisty Princess of Persia) Arterton's comments about Goofy Jake, it's clear Jake is as loveable on set now as he was back in the Very Indie Days of 2001. And he leaves a great impression.
'I was in one scene with him. I met him and he was the nicest guy in the entire world. At the premiere he even remembered who I was... I was there for a day. I had, like, two lines. But I'd like to actually do another scene with him, more.' Here is that scene. Something about mirrors, ego reflection, eating too much...
Talking of the Feisty Princess, Gemma has been on Breakfast TV talking about her TV and film career (amongst other things), and she mentioned that she was regularly seen crying on the set of the Prince of Persia. It turns out this had nothing to do with misery on the set, corsets too tight, Jake's pranks or the Gwyneth Proof Paltrow Syndrome - it's all the fault of Thomas Hardy and that wretched Tess of the D'Urbervilles: 'And then it was actually Tess that unlocked something in me. I became like a crying wreck – I couldn’t stop crying all the time. And then on the next film I did, Prince of Persia (with Jake Gyllenhaal), they kept saying to me, ‘Why are you crying all the time?’ I couldn’t get rid of Tess!' Just as well that Jake was a cheery presence on set. This must have helped.
After much searching, here is the only happy(ish) scene from the recent, wonderful, unspeakably depressing BBC production of Tess, which starred Gemma in the leading role and reduced her to a wreck that only Jake Gyllenhaal could salvage...
