Jake Gyllenhaal's Holden Caulfield - 'The Malcolm X of white suburban boys'

Today it was announced that JD Salinger has died, at the grand old age of 91. I may have had the feeling while reading it that Catcher in the Rye was not aimed at me - I never suffered the growing pains of a teenage boy after all (well, not in the first person anyway). But it was a book that I have read, my partner has read, my family has read and many of my friends have read. Also, it is a book that this chap called Jake Gyllenhaal has read. This book has influenced across age groups, genders, borders, oceans. It's not always been put to the best of use - I'm a John Lennon fan - but it will continue to be read, making the reader think about, and reassess, how they fit into their own world. It made me afraid a little.


So, here is Jake talking about Catcher in the Rye to Chelsea Clinton for Interview.

'CC: Right. Well, speaking of reading, are you reading anything interesting? JG: I happen to be rereading my favorite book, [J.D. Salinger's] Franny and Zooey. Have you read that book? CC: I have. Have you also read The Catcher in the Rye? JG: Of course. Many times, actually. CC: How old were you when you first read it? JG: I think I was 12. We went on a family vacation to Hawaii, and my sister gave it to me for Christmas, and I remember I couldn't put it down. You know, my production company is called Nine Stories Productions, which is an homage to J.D. Salinger's book of short stories. After The Catcher in the Rye I read everything he wrote. And now I'm back on another kick, reading them all again.'


'CC: Are you finding different lessons in them now than you did when you were younger? JG: I think now I have an appreciation of the specific more than the broad--the ideas, the sort of Buddhism that pervades all of Salinger's work. You know, I think it's genius that J.D. Salinger doesn't want anybody to make a movie of his book, because there's no way anyone can play it. it is what it is to everybody. I've met many people who actually dislike it. Especially some women I know. CC: Really? Why? In protest of the--and here I will try to shield those who haven't had the good fortune to read it yet--various tools Holden uses in his night of self-discovery? JG: I don't want to be gender-specific, and I hate separating male from female, but I do think that male angst, especially in an adolescent boy's life, is very specific. I think girls moving into womanhood go through it earlier and in a somewhat different way. So by the time they're the age where boys start going through it, they've sort of already gone through it, and some people just don't relate.'


'CC: That's interesting. I don't think I've ever encountered anyone who has a vehement dislike for the book. I know people who don't like it as much as I would have anticipated they would, but I've never had the benefit of having to defend why I like it. It's a special experience to read it when you are at the age Holden is in the book. I had to read it in high school, and it really compelled me and my friends to think about where we were in our lives. JG: Mm-hmm.'


'CC: I would encourage people to read it in the hope that maybe it would have a similar inspirational effect. Did you feel Holden Caulfield-esque while you were making The Good Girl? Do you even agree with your character's interpretation [of the book]? JG: There's something about him that makes me think he's only read that one book. He's so lost that he just sort of takes on this "Holden" persona because he understands it's universal. There's a funny line in the movie where [Jennifer Aniston's character] says to my character, "Your name's Tom?" And he says, "Tom is my slave name. Holden's what I call myself." CC: [laughs] I remember that part. JG: The Malcolm X of white suburban boys.'


Later on, during the promotion of Jarhead, Jake reiterated his affection for the works of Salinger: 'Q: What's your favourite book? JG: JD Salinger's Franny And Zooey. Q: What about Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye? Your character in 2002's The Good Girl was obsessed with it. JG: I've read that many times. I went on a family vacation to Hawaii when I was 12 and my sister [actress Maggie Gyllenhaal] gave it to me for Christmas. I couldn't put it down. My production company is called Nine Stories Productions, a homage to Salinger's book of short stories.'


And here 'Jake professes his fondness for J.D. Salinger's novel. ('It was actually the first book I related to when I was young.')' Jake's mother Naomi has also said that she reads Franny and Zooey, 'my favorite book in the world', every five years.


Of course, Jake starred in The Good Girl not only with Jennifer Aniston but also with Zooey Deschanel, who was named after the Salinger character in Franny and Zooey. Jake's character in This Is Our Youth also reminded more than one critic of Holden Caulfield.

Some influences get everywhere.


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Fears mount that Jake Gyllenhaal knows how to do the Macarena

Alarming reports have emerged from the Mellon Arena set of Love and Other Drugs yesterday. I advise you to take a seat. Jake Gyllenhaal was seen doing the Macarena.


While it is not known if this wanton display of hip wriggling will form a pivotal part of the movie or was simply a new Relaxation Before You Go On Stage technique for Jake, it is very true that the Macarena fits the 1990s' date of the film. For all I know, the Macarena played a well-established bonding role in every pharmaceutical rep get together of the '90s.


It is therefore extremely fitting that the wonderful IHJ has chosen today of all days to upload new old pictures from the song and dance rehearsal for 2004's Sundance. In these pictures of Jake and Zooey Deschanel, the showman is desperately trying to burst out of Jake (ala John Hurt in Alien). If given the chance, how could anyone doubt the glee with which Jake would cry out 'Heeeyyyyy Macarena!'?



If the Macarena features in Love and Other Drugs, it's clear we're going to have to brush up on this much (actually, not very much) loved dance and get ready to sing and dance along with Jake - I can already imagine the DVD extras. I therefore post below an educational video.



Many thanks to IHJ for the pics!

Jake's Blockbuster lesson No 1 - Have a personal trainer

It's cold outside. In fact, it's very cold outside. Seems very appropriate to thank IHJ for the new/old pics of Jake Gyllenhaal (with Zooey Deschanel) messing about in the snow in not nearly enough layers. But at least from this we can tell that if ever we need to build an emergency igloo, Jake is the sexgod, sorry man, for the job.


It is very likely that Jake will be heading back to the unreasonably and unfairly sunny climes of Los Angeles any day now, in which case, it's only fair that he should be reminded of what he will be missing. But, Californian or not, Jake has experience of big snow and Arctic seas thanks to Roland Emmerich and The Day After Tomorrow. Back in the days when Jake filmed this first big taste of a blockbuster, it was all a bit of a mystery about what he had let himself in for.


The lovely Emmy Rossum recounted: 'During filming, "we were in that tank, wet and cold and shivery, so much of the time and trying to keep our spirits up," the 17-year-old actress tells us, adding that their showbiz naivete didn't help. "There was one point (when) we were so exhausted we both collapsed," she said. "Jake said, 'So this is why those big movie stars ask for personal trainers. We should ask for those.' I said, 'Yeah, next time.'"' No wonder, then, that for PoP Jake should have trained his body to be capable of withstanding everything thrown at it, and why he had a trainer ensuring he was running up hills, in a flak jacket, every morning at the crack of dawn.


The Day After Tomorrow set does sound like it had its dangers: '"It looks like I'm running really slowly in the water, but it wasn't dangerous," he said. "I was in a dry suit for 50 takes. The only dangerous thing I did was almost smack my head on a crane."' (Chicago Sun-Times 2004). That would not have been good.


Elsewhere: 'Though he admits Montreal proved to be "one of the coldest places on Earth that winter," Gyllenhaal says he would gladly have traded the real snow on the Montreal streets for the fake snow in the studios. "The snow was made of the same stuff inside baby diapers. When you mix it with water, it expands immediately and you can squeeze it through your hands like jello, which is pretty much what happened inside our lungs."'


'The fake snow was also slippery. "I was supposed to run up this steep hill made of wood that was covered with the snow," recalls Gyllenhaal. "I turned down a stunt double because it seemed like such an easy stunt -- until I kept falling flat on my face." Eventually, Emmerich called for the stunt double who also ended up face first in the diaper padding. "They had to rethink the whole scene," says Gyllenhaal. When he was running down the flooded streets of New York, he was wearing boots and a dry-suit that filled with water. "It's why I'm running so slowly. I could barely move. We shot the sequence about 50 times. It almost did me in." Gyllenhaal says he likes The Day After Tomorrow because "there are no superheroes, just ordinary people. No one saves the world. People just have to learn how to live in the new world that the global warming creates."'


More trouble for Torso?

And it looks like David Fincher's Torso may be running into yet more trouble. According to this report, paramount are still holding back and there is still no decision on whether filming can take place in Cleveland. Interestingly, IGH gives the cast as Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Rachel McAdams - not a Jake in sight.


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Here we go again... Jake to play Broadway Joe?

In the absence of holidaying Jake, it's become harder keeping up with the rumours surrounding 'the next project' - the result of wishful thinking, perhaps? The latest rumour is in today's New York Post: Jake Gyllenhaal is Paramount Pictures' favourite to play Joe Namath in the story of the life and career of this New York Jets player.



At this point, you'll have to bear with me as my only knowledge of American football is David Beckham and that might not be quite the same thing. I do know that these photos of Jake are of him playing a different but equally mysterious sport. So I've done some basic research, and I can inform the better informed that Joe Namath (aka Broadway Joe for a reason I cannot fathom) played most of his career for the New York Jets, he modelled women's underwear in commercials with Farah Fawcett, he wore full length fur coats by the side of the football pitch, and he was fit, muscular, beloved, good-humoured, a hard drinker and a ladies' dream. We've heard rumours of Jake playing a sporty hero before - rumours that dragged and dragged - and this may well be no different but it supports the general widely held belief that when it comes to the portrayal of physical, athletic heroes, you can do no better than Jake. Of course, that doesn't mean Jake wants to do it...



As the NYP says: 'If you ever saw Jake as the Marine in "Jarhead," you know he can bulk up impressively. He can look like a star quarterback. And he is a terrific actor.' I hope the film, should it happen, skips over this phase of Joe's career:


Rendition gets better and better

Thanks very much to a WDW reader for pointing out this little Rendition treat to me. According to someone who has seen a Rendition previewer, Jake's characeter Douglas is no Robert Graysmith - there's a 'make-out scene, not full on sex scene...it's like the second or third scene in the movie. Jake wakes up, shirtless and sweaty, goes to find his hot woman (I honestly don't remember if she even had a name? Regardless, she's Moroccan and really hot) who has just gotten out of the shower, and is wearing just a towel. They exchange some sort of pleasantries, then he pulls her against him, up against the bathroom door. They start kissing, and he runs his hand up under her towel just under her ass, lifting her thigh up and just barely around him, and they make out.'

Yes, you heard right, shirtless and sweaty. Let me say that again - shirtless and sweaty. The baseball photos seem apt for this story as well.


Off topic

A few days ago The Good Girl was on UK TV and a comment was made here about how talented Good Girl actress Zooey Deschanel is. Some people may be aware that I have a thing about penguins and I'm looking forward to the new animation Surf's Up. It turns out that Zooey is (at least her voice is) one of the penguins. In an article in yesterday's Daily Mail, Zooey reflects on her starry childhood. It seems that 'From the age of five, she attended Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, a private school in Santa Monica favoured by show-business families, alongside such classmates as Kate Hudson and Jake Gyllenhaal.'


Pictures from here, here and IHJ.