[Updated] Jake Gyllenhaal: Movies and stories 'can move people and change lives. They've changed my life'

[Update] Tweeters are now putting Jake in Pittsburgh! As so often happens, the first clues emerge from a city's coffee house. 'Quad Americano?' translation please... Great to think that soon Jake, fully caffeined, will be back in front of a camera.

All those movie journalists who can't decide between the extravagant beauty of Venice's Lido or the accessible enthusiasm of Toronto's Yorkville have now reached crunch time. Closer to (my) home, the movies for London's festival are about to be announced. One could be forgiven for thinking it's festival time! There may be no Jake Gyllenhaal at TIFF, VIFF or maybe even LIFF this year but I'll take this opportunity to meander down that bar-lined, theatre-decked, red-carpeted, fan-enraptured memory lane.


Let's go back to TIFF 2005, when Jake did more interviews than someone who gets interviewed a lot because he had not one, not two, but three films doing the rounds. All credit to Jake that at any one time he knew which film to talk about, which director to praise and which co-star to extol (or avoid mentioning at all). This interview from the Detroit News (December 2005) has been dug up from the muddy WDW archives. I like how the article starts: 'Jack Twist is a tall drink of water, a young cowpoke with dreamy eyes who rides rodeo when he can, herds sheep when he has to and plays awful harmonica by the campfire at night. And, oh yes, Jack's in love. With a guy named Ennis.' Here are some more exerpts.


'But Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Jack opposite Heath Ledger's Ennis, doesn't see the gay angle getting in the way of audiences appreciating "Brokeback Mountain." "Maybe I'm naive or something. I grew up in Los Angeles and that might make me naive," he says. "My two unofficial godparents are a gay couple. I grew with my friends who, when I was 15, 16, were coming out. Maybe I took it for granted. "I understand that people have a response that's either pro-pro or con-con and I get that, but no... I have a feeling we're going to be surprised at who responds to this movie," says Gyllenhaal, who turns 25 on Dec. 19.'


'"I had been given the script by my agent when I was 16, saying, well, there's a gay cowboy movie. And I had said I don't want to go anywhere near that," Gyllenhaal recalls. "But then when Ang came on to it, I just knew what type of movie he was going to make," Gyllenhaal says. The result is frank, passionate and almost devoid of soppy sentiment. "I just knew he was the type of filmmaker who would get that and walk that line," Gyllenhaal says. "And that was the only way the story should be told... Heath and I were very, very clear about how we wanted both these characters to be portrayed. You do see these two men kissing, they are being intimate together, but there's a real aggression and a real masculinity from both of them," Gyllenhaal says.'


'His eyes flash as he remembers a scene where Jack and Ennis are reunited after a few years apart. "He throws me against the wall, I throw him against the wall. There's a real love and a passion between them, too, and a fearlessness that comes from the two of them," Gyllenhaal says. "It's not like what you would consider some sort of quote unquote gay kiss. It's very complicated and more interesting."'


Of the Brokeback, Jarhead and Proof triptych: 'How did he land three such films at once? "I don't know," he says. "Either really good representation ..." and then he breaks into laughter. "I did make a deal with myself. I had worked with a lot of directors who were first-time directors, and I had a lot of success working with those directors. And then I just said I kind of want to hold out for those stories that really moved me and those filmmakers that I would be thrilled to work with," he says. "So I held out... It seems all this just happened (in theaters), but it took three and a half years and six months between projects. There was a lot of free time in all of it," he says. "I took my time, I said, I'm going to try for these things, and if I don't get them I don't get them."'


'Ask him if he's ready to be a movie star, and his answer is concise: "Yes." And then he breaks into laughter. Did he take specific classes for that? "Yeah, I've got my degree on the wall," he says, laughing on. But then he gets serious. "I know it sounds strange. I've been auditioning for like 12 years now for things, and even though I'm like really young, it has been since I was 13 years old. And I just feel like you get the hang of it, you understand," he says. "I feel like when you look at (stardom) like it's just another lesson in your life, when you have that perspective on it rather than it's something that you want or you've always dreamed of or any of those things, then I think you're ready... I've been taught since I was a young kid, growing up in the family I grew up in, movies and stories of any kind are powerful and extraordinary. They can move people and change lives. They've changed my life."


'Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. "(Being a movie star) just gives me a power that I hope I can do good with, that I'm not going to abuse, that I'll appreciate. And I feel mature enough now to deal with it," Gyllenhaal says. "Yeah, I'm ready."'


Includes pictures from IHJ. As always, article available as a pdf.

Rendition Jake and Sporty Jake - on the road, on a bike and on a board

You don't need me to tell you that the Toronto Film Festival is drawing ever nearer - the lineup is due to be announced on Wednesday at noon, Toronto time, having been postponed from tomorrow. One can only speculate about who will be there and, speaking as someone with some experience of The Red Carpet Phenomenon, you have to take the knocks with the kisses and don't expect to get what you want. But the clues are out there, indicating that 'Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard are scheduled to arrive to promote the espionage thriller Rendition. Early indications are that co-star Meryl Streep, however, won't be with them.' But best not to believe it until the minute they step out of the car.

The pictures below were taken at TIFF at Brokeback Mountain's premiere, and also allow me to indulge my 'thing' about Jake and phones. This is a relatively new interest, triggered by my recent upgrade to a phone I don't know how to use. I wonder if Jake reads the manuals for all these phones of his?



It therefore seems wonderful timing that IHeartJake has put up those Morocco photos, taken on the set of Rendition in March this year, without the ugly tags and much bigger. Now we can get a better look at Rendition Jake, and why not compare his hair here (BAFTA hair) with the aerodynamic cut of the recent Chilmark Road race? I noticed that in one of the pictures, not only has Jake a lady to carry his jacket for him, it also looks like he has a man to carry his gun. Should either of these jobs become vacant...





Rendition is also featured in this week's Entertainment Weekly with Reese on the cover and, although there's little mention of Jake, there is a new picture:


Sporty Jake

Talking of the Chilmark Road Race - a video has become available direct from the Vineyard - click here to watch it. I have to say that it seems a strange case of journalism or press, that the reporter in the video makes not a single mention of the movie star right in front of the camera. I know stars aren't troubled by paparazzi or the media on MV but this attempt to leave a star in peace seems a little determined.

There are other new/old pictures of Jake, including some from one of my favourite Jake events of the last year - the Ride for Roses in Texas, in which Jake and Lance Armstrong participated, led even, in October 2006. Again, the tags are now gone, allowing us the happy, unfettered view of Spandex Jake.



Further new/old pictures include additional evidence of Jake's sportiness, should it be required. In April 2006, Jake was seen skateboarding around NYC accompanied by Maggie. As Maggie was pregnant at the time, Jake carefully held the skateboard still for her just so she could still play with her brother. I'm not sure entirely why, but the bottom photo just fascinates me.



Includes pictures from Glamour Reese Witherspoon and IHJ.

Jake follows his musical dreams

We all know Jake Gyllenhaal can sing, although he mostly likes to hint at what he really can do by doing his utmost to torture his tonsils by singing in a most extraordinary - awkward, even - key. Here is a video to remind you of what I know you haven't forgotten. To date, Jake's crowning moment came at SNL in January when he proved that, not only has he a pair of lungs on him and remarkable other bits of his body, but that he is a born performer and belongs on a stage as naturally as he owns the silver screen.



Jake may get a chance to fulfil a possible personal ambition next month because, according to Newsday, Jake has been asked to do a reading of the musical Promises, Promises in New York. With a score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Promises, Promises was first performed on Broadway in 1968, winning a Tony Award for lead Jerry Orbach - clearly someone thinks it's due a revival. It is based on a play by Neil Simon called The Apartment and is an adaptation of a 1960 movie. It tells the story of young (and maybe geeky?) city hopeful Chuck Baxter who tries to climb the corporate ladder by lending out his apartment to his superiors for their 'liaisons'. Finally, Chuck sees the light and turns the tables. Incidentally, the song that I've heard from this musical is 'What Do You Get When You Fall in Love' as sung in a version by Dionne Warwick.


Light and frothy the subject matter may be - but isn't that true of most musicals? - but a combination of the masters of melody Bacharach and David, the ever witty Neil Simon and the stage presence and charisma of Jake Gyllenhaal, who we all know loves a good show tune, in full voice - irresistible! This seems like a perfect excuse to repost a picture of Jake having the time of his life on stage with Rufus Wainwright.


Toronto Film Festival

Speculation continues about the stars who'll be descending on Toronto for the festival this September. Now that it's been announced that Rendition will have its gala premiere in the city (see the post below for links), we're being told to expect a dazzling display on the red carpet, with the full cast present, and that means the treat of Jake in full movie star mode once again. Perfect!

Jake Gyllenhaal - I want to do this for a really long time

In September 2002, both Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal were at the Toronto Film Festival publicising their new films - for Maggie it was Secretary and, for Jake, Moonlight Mile. This week, new photographs from the Moonlight Mile press conference have been brought into the light by iheartjake, a state of affairs that is not only to be celebrated in its right, but also because it in turn helped to unearth a gem of an interview between co-stars Susan Sarandon and Jake.


Susan chose to interview/promote/advise The Next Big Thing in August of 2002 in New York. The interview began, not a little strangely but for good, practical reasons, in the ladies bathroom of Manhattan's Man Ray restaurant. The steady trickle, if you pardon the expression, of women keen to come and meet the young man they are assured (by Susan) will be a household name finally drives the pair back to Susan's house where they continue in relative peace.

So what do they talk about? Jake recalls Dustin Hoffman coming to see Jake perform on stage in London in The Days of Our Youth earlier that year: "He didn't call me - he just came to the play. In the middle of the intermission, the fireman who watches over the theater came in and said, "Dustin Hoffman is in the audience." I was so nervous I ended up hamming up the second act." Another woman enters the bathroom at that point. Jake reveals that he was in talks with Bernardo Bertolucci about a role in The Dreamers, and there were plenty of contractural clauses about nudity, which said, according to Jake: "You're going to show your penis, you're going to show your whatever." No need for me to tell you, this didn't come off.


This reminds Jake of Maggie's role in Secretary: "She's amazing in it. She's totally naked in the film, but in a very beautiful kind of way." But was it weird to see his sister naked? "Yeah. The story's beautiful and I recognize it as a plot point, but it's still uncomfortable." Warming to her theme, Susan asks Jake if he was naked with Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl. "In our sex scenes I spent most of my time covering her breasts." Susan: "That's a tough job, huh?" "A tough, tough job" Jake agrees.


Jake tells the now famous story of Paul Newman, someone Susan admires enormously, teaching him to drive when Jake was only 15 years old. The mother in Susan is horrified to hear from Jake that "He was driving the car and he threw me in the passenger's seat and with his glasses dangling from his ear, he started driving on the track towards a brick wall. [Sarandon gasps again] We're 100 feet from a wall, going 60 miles-per-hour, and he hits the brake and turns the wheel, and the car spins three times. So then he turns to me and goes, "That was what you don't do." "



Horrified myself to hear of Jake in such peril, it's a relief when Jake turns to more serious reflection on why he is attracted to certain material. "I think that more and more there's a sense that the best performances I can give are the ones that are the truest to who I am. The further I move away from who I am, the worse they are... And I think the closer I get to myself, the wider the spectrum of what I can play." Later Jake says "I want to do this for a really long time." And Susan warmly responds "I think you could do it for as long as you want."

Finally, Susan advises the earnest young Jake that he should take a year off from thinking. "Bernardo said that to me!... He said, [in an Italian accent] "You need to take a year off from thinking. Come have sex in my movie!" " That sounds more like it.


Photos from IHJ.