UPDATE - The GN SHow! Jake Gyllenhaal in London, Part 1!

UPDATE! Jake Gyllenhaal on The Graham Norton Show:



Thanks to Mermon for finding the link!

On with the post...

Jake Gyllenhaal is in London, not only that he has brought the sunshine with him. All fears that Jake would have to don waders or snorkel to his media appointments have been put to rest. Today has been a busy day and it is not yet done. With the Graham Norton Show still to come (10.30pm tonight on BBC 1 - 8 December on BBC America), today began bright an early with an appearance on Radio 1's Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw.

The Radio

You can listen to the show here and here for the next 7 days (I suspect only in the UK unfortunately).



The show tweeted: 'We've all fallen a little bit in love with Jake Gyllenhaal. Even the guys on the team. What a guy :D' I think we know why.

Jake was happy to be photographed outside the studio - maybe the extra hair and beard means that Jake doesn't have to wear a coat in today's subzero temperatures.

The webchat

Next, at 10am, was the MSN webchat - you can read all of that (backwards) here, including insight into Jake's opinions on ribena, teacakes, books, movies, flowers and a whole lot more, including his belief that Michael Pena deserves an Oscar for his role in End of Watch. Also, when asked why he's not on Twitter, Jake replies that he's a 'Luddite'. My favourite moments:

'I just want to take this last moment to say thank you all for joining us, I can't see any of you but I really appreciate you taking your time out of the day to ask me these questions. I hope that you all keep giving me the opportunity to do what I love and hope you have a wonderful afternoon. Stay warm if it's cold where you are.'

'I would love to work with Jean Jacques Audiard or Paul Thomas Anderson, and there are some, I would love one day maybe to play Jo Namath, famous football star, but to me a movie is all about relationships and the reality of those relationships and how honest they are. So very rarely is it about a character or a person, it's more about the heart of the script and the heart of the director telling that story.'

On forgetting his lines: 'Yes, but I've recovered pretty quickly. It happens not that often but when it does happen that's what makes you a professional actor is your recovery.'

'I've never really found anythng a fan said to me strange. People definitely have a lot to say and there are many different opinons and they express them to me. What I think is wonderful about being public with your career, is that people are allowed to express themselves. Nothing strange though, I've been doing it long enough not to find anybody strange, everybody is unique.'

'My fave thing about travelling is how each culture expresses themselves stylistically and culinarily, i love food, so it's wonderful to explore that side of any culture. Some of my closest friends live in and around London and that's what i love the most about London. A handful of my closest friends are British.'

On being an early bird or a night owl: 'Personally i like being up during the day, but it depends on what i'm working on too. At this point doing a show in NY, i tend to be up very late bec we finish the show and you have to come down from the show. But normally i like to be up during the day so i guess you could say i'm an early bird. I'm more of a bird than an early bird.'

'I believe deeply in everyone knowing where their food comes from, I grew up around farmers and with my family growing some of their own food in a veg garden. But gardening is a broad term, I love flowers but i'm not growing any!'

On The Shave: 'After the run of my play, which ends Dec 23rd, I start shooting another movie a few weeks later, so depending on the external trappings that character will have, this beard is for the play i'm doing now.'

'The last movie that I shot which was yet to come out called An Enemy where I play a history professor and an actor, technically playing two different roles and also acting with myself. Also the weirdness of the world it's the strangest movie I've made so far in my career. It was a real journey making it, it was an experience even in the process of making it.'

The podcast

Next up was the Empire podcast with Chris Hewitt (of who, I am a big fan) and Stephen Woolley. The podcast is embedded below but you can also download and listen to it here. Chris: 'He was immensely dreamy, with a lovely beard.'

Tonight

Jake will be on the Graham Norton Show tonight with most of Top Gear and Joan Rivers. How this will pan out we have yet to see but the GN Show tweeted earlier: 'Great show record with Jake Gyllenhaal, @Joan_Rivers,@jcrclarksonesq, @mrjamesmay. See the broadcastable bits tonight BBC1 10:35 #thegnshow'

I also hope we'll get to hear something about the BAFTA Q and A today.

All of which means, there will be more, so stay tuned!

Joan Rivers stealing Jake's Goodie Bag from the Graham Norton Show

UPDATE! WDW Exclusive Part 2! Carey Mulligan speaks about Jake Gyllenhaal and the UK prepares...

UPDATE! Tomorrow morning at 10am Brit Time, Jake will be answering fans' questions on MSN. So, in the meantime tweet your questions to @msnents using #msnjake or follow this link to the webpage where you can also leave a question.

Jake appears on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show tomorrow and on th Graham Norton Show on the BBC at 10.30pm. Thanks to Gyllencrazy for the info that this will be broadcast on BBC America on 8 December.

So, if you're in London as of now, keep your eyes open!

On with the post!

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to share a fabulous report by Lisa and Ted from their NYC trip to see Jake Gyllenhaal at the Armed Forces event. If you see Jake at one event in a weekend then you can consider yourself truly fortunate, but two?! Earlier the same day - 11 November - Lisa and Ted attended a performance of If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet which was followed by a Q and A in which the full cast, including Jake, participated. Lisa even asked the first question. So, with no further ado, here is Lisa's full and brilliant report:

'On Sunday, November 11^th I attended If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet for the sixth time and enjoyed it just as much as I did all the other times!  The performances are tighter than ever and Enid Graham is a great addition to the cast playing Anna’s mother, Fiona.  This performance was extra special because Ted, who has been on a couple of other adventures with me :-), was able to join me in the states and we had tickets in the orchestra front row center.  It was amazing to be sitting that close and looking straight on like that and, yes, we did get splashed a few times!!

This performance included a Q&A and this time the full cast participated. Jake looked great in the mustard colored pants he had on in the recent ‘walking about NYC pictures’ with a brown button down shirt and no hat (boy, that head of hair is getting full – lookin’ good)!

When the cast first got seated Jake looked around the audience a lot - he seemed to scan each and every person.  He looked quite relaxed throughout, slumped down a bit with legs stretched out in front of him when other cast members spoke, sometimes with a distant look as if really concentrating on what they were saying.  He would nod in agreement from time to time as they spoke and would sit right up when he was asked a question as he readied to answer.

I felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to ask the first question which I directed to Jake (of course)!  I noted that he played a lot of different characters over his career and that Terry is quite a unique one and I asked if he could tell us what he liked and disliked about playing this character.  He said that he first wanted to say that it was the writing that attracted him to the play and he went on to say similar things that we’ve heard him say before about the story (i.e. the messy family situation, etc.) but I’ll be honest that when he was answering this question he was looking directly at me (he was doing that a lot – looking at the person who asked the question while giving his answer instead of looking at the audience as a whole) so there are definitely bits that went in one ear and out the other! 

He said that when he read the script that parts were written like poetry and he liked that Terry’s sentences were often unfinished and he had to finish them himself mentally.  He said it was funny how when you looked at the lines all of Terry’s were just on the left hand side of the page because they just stopped (he chuckled as he explained that). 

He continued that he felt Terry is just trying to be understood and has such a hard time expressing himself but he is dedicated to the truth of it.  He thinks that that’s where a lot of Terry’s anger comes from – not being able to verbalize it and that’s what he loved about it. He added that if you’re going to do something eight times a week you want it be something you really want to be a part of and he felt that this was an opportunity he might not get to play again. 



Needless to say I just nodded and smiled throughout his answer because, wow, it’s really hard to concentrate when those eyes are looking straight at you!  So hard, in fact, that I didn’t notice until much later that he didn’t mention what he disliked about playing the character of Terry – maybe there isn’t anything he dislikes about it?  

Jake seemed happy to answer any questions that came his way as well as jump in and add to some of the things being asked of the other cast members.  When Annie was asked about the relationship between Anna and Terry and if she even realized it was leaning toward a sexual nature she said that she and Jake talked a lot about that and both felt that this girl needed some type of positive attention – any type of attention – as she was so overlooked and being a 15 year old girl it’s not a surprise that she confused her feelings at times.  Jake took the microphone from her when she was done and wanted to add that it seems that people often confuse intimacy and sexuality and that you can have one without the other and that the way Anna and Terry are toward each other is just how these two people express themselves.

There was a question that’s been brought up before regarding this play about the two brothers speaking so differently and Jake grabbed the microphone right away and laughed as he said “well George is A LOT older” which got a laugh out of everyone (especially Brian who plays George)!  He went on to say that George had a lot of schooling, did a lot of studying and seemed to identify with that while Terry was closer to home and stayed closer to his mom.  He said he also thought that Terry wants to hold on to somewhat of a street-smart kid attitude so kind of talks in a certain way to portray that.


Link for the above video interview

There was a question for Annie and Enid about the mother and daughter relationship which they both spoke a little about and then a couple of comments that made people shake their heads a bit (but that always seems to happen at a Q&A)!  One was from an older woman who wanted to tell anyone who would listen that the British accents didn’t sound right and caused her to not understand one thing that was said and she thought someone should make note of that – this caused a combination of discomfort and a few chuckles from the audience and cast members alike!  Another older woman mentioned a photo of Jake that she saw in the NY Times as part of a review and that he had a red beard and she wondered what happened to it which caused Jake to grab the microphone and say “I think you got a bad copy of the NY times” which got quite a roar of laughter from everyone! 

All and all it was a very interesting and entertaining Q&A and it was wonderful to hear Jake talk about this project which is obviously very dear to him. 

I do have to thank a group of friends who joined Ted and I after the play and helped me write a thorough recap of the Q&A as it was a lot to remember but we wanted to get it all written down so we could share!'

Thank you, Lisa!

Carey Mulligan on Jake Gyllenhaal in End of Watch

This - a presentation for SAG - is very special. Carey's words on the performance of her friend Jake in End of Watch:

'I remember so vividly Jake's demeanor when he was preparing for "End of Watch." I have known him and regarded him as a dear friend for several years, and during that time I was very struck by some fundamental change in him. He was energized, he was completely present and he told me with such excitement about the work that he was doing to get ready for his next movie. A large part of the work involved was observing protocol on the midnight shift with the LAPD. Both he and Michael Pena witnessed pretty tragic, unpleasant scenes that affected them both. His descriptions of the ride-alongs were charged not with voyeurism but with a profound respect for the policemen and women whom they were observing. His reinvigorated sense of perspective and humility was palpable. I sensed just how deep he had already gone, and that the experience was filling him in some new way. Not that Jake had ever taken work lightly ­­-- quite the opposite -- but what was so distinct on this occasion was that this work was releasing him. He seemed more free, more alive and more comfortable in his skin than I had ever known him.'

'Watching Jake in "End of Watch," I saw all of that joyous freedom on the screen. His complete ease in scenes with the brilliant Michael Pena makes those moments wrap around you in all their infectious warmth, and pulls you into the car with them. Their comraderie is the most beautiful portrayal of friendship in the truest sense: absolute trust, love and unflinching loyalty. It is a love story that broke my heart and Jake's work is fearless. He is not daunted by the intimacy of their relationship, the lightening fast emotional changes, the dichotomy of bravado and honesty or even a meticulously choreographed first dance at his wedding. When he stood to speak at the closing of the movie, with such quiet grace, I realized I hadn't thought once of the Jake I know as my friend but only as the character he embodies in this wonderfully special movie.'

Speaking of awards, Michael Pena has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Spirit Award although Jake and David Ayer were not nominated - mixed news there.

End of Watch and the UK

Jake is set to arrive in the UK imminently for his flying promotional trip. Tomorrow night Jake's appearance on the Graham Norton Show is recorded (before airing late on Friday night), during which he will be surrounded by Jeremy Clarkson and James May of Top Gear as well as Joan Rivers. Getting a word in will prove quite a feat but I'm sure Jake will manage it. Also, unlike other chat shows, if Jake is first on the show he'll be there on the sofa throughout. If he's last on, he'll be fighting for airtime with Clarkson - could be interesting. Could be controversial. Could be petrolheady. Not having Top Gear's Richard The Hamster Hammond and Jake on the show is a missed opportunity that Norton may rue til the end of his days - or at least til the end of the series.

Also on Friday, Jake is taking part in a BAFTA screening and Q and A in London.

On Friday morning, Jake is due to appear on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show - not something I'd wish on many people but hopefully it will go well and Jake won't be overshadowed by the announcement of flood warnings.

No doubt, there will be more! Especially as End of Watch has been causing such a great buzz over the UK since its release last Friday.

Thanks to IHJ for the lovely new pictures!

*Emergency post* Jake Gyllenhaal - the Guardian's Top Gun

Today's Guardian has been well and truly Jake Gyllenhaaled....

Click and they shall be embeginned. For a better look at the words do read the interview over at the Guardian and always remember: if you're going to lend someone your jacket, check their bedbug situation first....