Everything's hotting up for End of Watch! Directing David Ayer has been talking about Jake Gyllenhaal's performance in the film and how he was so authentic during these apparently camera-less scenes, he was accepted by authentic LA police crews driving past the set.
'Ayer recalled, "Cops in LA will do a hand sign with four fingers to say 'everything's good.' Jake threw a 'Code Four' at some LAPD cops rolling by and they threw a 'Code Four' back. I don't think they had any idea it was Jake Gyllenhaal!"'
"Jake put his heart and soul into the training," Ayer said. "There are a thousand subtle things cops do, and I wanted Jake to have the body language and presence of an LAPD officer." Ayer called the training process "months and months of blood, sweat and tears, and it enabled Jake and Mike to be so believable together."
"Everybody films everything in their lives these days," Ayer said, "Even the bad guys!" As a result, Gyllenhaal and Peña were required to not only be convincing cops, but also cameramen. Ayer said, "A couple scenes are entirely Jake's camera work. He got pretty good by the end!"
You can read the full feature here, where we can also see one of the first publicity stills from End of Watch.
One of the lucky members of the audience of the first screenings of End of Watch, so many months before the release, has recorded their glowing report here. It is spoiler-free. Thanks to Mermon for the links and thanks to IHJ for the screencaps from the trailer. I've picked some of my favourites here.
Today we have a poster to go with the release of the End of Watch trailer. I don't know about you but I'm not sure it shows Jake's best side... The poster is here via HeyUGuys. There is also an account in the New York Post of a screening that Jake Gyllenhaal hosted on Wednesday for family and friends, including Jay-Z who may be writing a song for the film (which would confirm the speculation that the version of End of Watch currently being screened may not be the final version):
'Jake Gyllenhaal screened his buzzed-about upcoming movie “End of Watch” for Jay-Z at the Crosby Street Hotel on Wednesday. The rapper attended Gyllenhaal’s small friends-and-family screening of the Open Road Films movie, which comes out Sept. 28 as directed by “Training Day” writer David Ayer. Sources said Jay could be contributing a song to the project, which stars Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena as LAPD officers, with Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera. Producer John Lesher was also a guest.'
Do take a look at a new interview with Maggie Gyllenhaal in USA Weekend. Apart from revealing she's a Downton Abbey addict, there is a tiny mention of Jake. Talking of whom, let's take a look at that trailer again, this time in HD...
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a trailer.. And so, with no further ado, please say hello to Officer Taylor aka Jake Gyllenhaal. But be warned - we have dancing. If the embedded version below doesn't work then here it is.
Last night, Jake and Michael Pena attended a preview in NYC and there was a great response from these two tweeters at least. The first made a series of tweets: 'This movie made me think of everyone out there risking their lives so we r free & safe. We honestly don't pay them enough for what they do. Will likely get an R rating for language & violence as it's very graphic but it's def a must see. Even more appreciative of the police. End of Watch will be in theatres in Sept & honestly is gonna be a hit. It's shot home movie style & u feel the rawness of the streets. End of Watch was fantastic. Honest, funny at times & touchingly raw. An homage to the people out there keeping us safe. Thank you.'
And from the second: 'Just watched screening 4 End of Watch, new gripping police drama in LA. So good!!! Out in Sept!! Just watched the advance NYC screening of the #EndofWatch Movie. Amazing police drama with Jake Gyllenhaal. I saw Jake+Michael P. At the screening. So exciting. Jake said the movie changed his life. Jake+Michael Pena r both awesome,funny cops who r best friends. Most of theFilm is about what they experience! I won't spoil!!!'
So... what do you think of the trailer?! Thanks to BBMISwear for the tweet links!
Are you an actual teenager? Got nothing to do this Autumn? Here's a suggestion:
'SEEKING 1 teenage girl to play ANNA. ANNA IS AN OVERWEIGHT 15 YEAR OLD GIRL. SHE IS BULLIED AT SCHOOL AND TENDS TO KEEP TO HERSELF AT HOME. SHE IS A LONER STRUGGLING TO NAVIGATE THE PERILS OF ADOLESCENCE. SHE LIKES TERRY VERY MUCH AND OFTEN CONFIDES THINGS IN HIM SHE WON’T TELL HER PARENTS. SEEKING AN EXCEPTIONAL ACTRESS WITH A STRONG ENGLISH ACCENT. SEEKING AN ACTUAL TEENAGER. NO ONE OVER 18 PLEASE.'
More details here on how to apply to act opposite Jake Gyllenhaal on stage.
Thanks to IHJ, we're able to see today that no matter how bad Jake's hair and beard can be these days, it could always be much, much worse... The photos were taken at the NYC premiere of A Midsummer Night's Dream in April 1999, the same year that Jake appeared in October Sky.
We've had a little bit of an update on Jake Gyllenhaal's Off Broadway debut this Autumn. It turns out that Jake is quite a fan of young British playwright Nick Payne who penned If There Is I haven't Found It Yet. After having seen Nick's last play at the Royal Court in London back in February - presumably when the photo below was taken - it sounds like Jake was keen to sign on - even though he doesn't know what an Asda is (your loss, Jake). Other points to note are that Jake will be back in his English accent! Will he be going Estuary, that is the question. And hoopla at the stage door is expected. Surely not... The report below is from The Indie.
'Gyllenhaal will play Terry, a foul-mouthed drifter who strikes up an odd friendship with his obese teenage niece. "He likes the humour and anger of the character and the tone of the play," says Payne. The actor was sent the script and liked it so much he came to see Payne's last play, Constellations, at the Royal Court in February. After a reading of If There Is... with Roundabout Theatre in New York, he signed on for a full run, opening in August. Gyllenhaal will adopt an English accent for the role but will Payne tailor his script for American audiences? "No. Although at the read-through I asked, 'does everyone know what Asda is?' and they said, 'not really.'" Is he ready for Jake's starstruck fans at the stage-door? "I'm sure there will be a bit of hoopla but I'm quite happy to stay anonymous." Not for too much longer, I'd guess.'
Jake Gyllenhaal is back in NYC after having experienced England's wettest drought on record by popping over last weekend for a wedding in wellies on a Somerset farm. Maybe he picked up some vegetable growing tips while scraping the muck out of his boots. So, as England continues to sink into the ever-rising deluge of 'much needed' rain, Jake put it all behind him and popped out for dinner with a bunch of friends, including Beyonce, her husband Jay-Z and Sarah Jessica Parker. Shockingly, it was revealed that Beyonce wore the same outfit that she was seen wearing earlier the same day. I'm surprised the restaurant let her in. As for Jake, he continues to work on his Captain Nemo Furry look.
Many thanks to IHJ for these photos which were taken on 25 April. The next night, Jake was seen on stage with David Ayer introducing a screening of End of Watch a full five months before it's due to be released. This isn't the only screening either. There are others in NYC and LA at the beginning of May. There are more details of the 2 May NYC screening here.
So what was the verdict on the film last night? As one would expect, it appears as if the audience signed away their souls in pledging their silence. However, in one twitter exchange, a tweeter said that Jake talked for five minutes and the film was 'Really good! Intense...I was balling'. Another tweeter grabbed a pic.
One wonders if David Ayers is just getting feedback from audiences or if he has some changes in mind. Time will tell and hopefully we'll hear something from one of these screenings... Thanks to BBMISwear for help with the links.
Today is a very special day for me - WDW is five years old - no longer toddling around like a nipper, nappies long forgotten and letters now forming into words longer than 'feed me'! It's been an incredible five years and it's been precious because those years have given me the opportunity to watch Jake Gyllenhaal's career develop, his interests outside film making flourish and his beard and hair levels run amok. These years have also given me some of my closest friends, leading to some of the best times of my life - not least re-enacting Moonlight Mile across Massachusetts and Martha's Vineyard with BBMISwear!
I've been fortunate to see Jake a ridiculously wonderful number of times in five countries and through it all I've had the fun of sharing it all here. And not only my own adventures, it's been great hearing the Jake stories shared by readers here. Hopefully, as Jake's filming - and stage - career step up a gear in 2012, there'll be lots more to come.
The best way to see the highlights of these five years is through the archives, but here is a brief look at just a few of the memorable times...
2007
2007 was a year I'll never forget for it was spent in a whirlwind of film releases. I saw Jake in London, Cannes, Toronto and Rome with a near miss in LA at the Zodiac Premiere that wasn't. I can do no better here than point you in the direction of a post I did for Jake's birthday in 2007. This remains one of my favourite posts from an exceptional year - so good a year in fact that it was the perfect time to start a blog.
2008
2008 was a difficult year for a number of reasons. The loss of Heath Ledger doesn't get easier. Jake spent much of the year filming and being well away from paparazzi cameras while he did it. Jake filmed Brothers in a snowy cold New Mexico before moving to South Carolina in the spring for Nailed. More than one reader here was an extra on the movie and BBMISwear visited the set and gave us the most incredible account following her lunch with Jake and our friend Ted. If you haven't read this account then you really must! Here is a photo of two of my very favourite people... courtesy of BBMISwear.
Another friend Nicole shared her experiences of the filming of Nailed with us too - you can read some of her adventures here and here. Quite incredible. Thanks to Nicole for sharing her pictures. There are little videos on WDW too.
One reader, Lisa, told us all about her experiences on the night time set of Nailed - her daughter was one of the extras. You can read that here and here.
In April, I had an adventure of my own, when An Education filmed in Oxford. This led to the rather unbelievable occasion of bumping in to Peter Sarsgaard on the way home from work. I was very fortunate, thanks to Winterbird, to also attend the premiere in London in 2009.
Also in 2008, friends and I took the trip to London to the premiere of The Dark Night, not least to pay our respects to Heath. A very memorable day and lovely to see Maggie.
As for Jake, for much of the rest of the year barely a peep was heard from him. He had been whisked off to Morocco to film Prince of Persia.
2009
In the spring of 2009 we were granted with our first glimpse of Prince Dastan, giving me the chance to take an archaeological look at its early medieval authenticity - a post that turned out to be one of the most popular in WDW's history.
In the summer, I was off to Boston for my Moonlight Mile journey with BBMISwear. This was quite a trip - seeing BBMISwear trying to launch herself over the post office counter ala Jake was extremely entertaining. Everywhere we went, people were keen to talk about their memories of when Jake and Dustin Hoffman came to town. One of the posts is here, while here we are on our quest for That Bench.
2009 was the year of expectations! We had trailers for Brothers - this film had been put back another year leading to a very miserable WDW for a while. We had glimpses from Prince of Persia and then we had the filming of Love and Other Drugs. Jake now and again emerge from PoP secluded busyness for trips to Europe and much excitement at WonderCon in San Francisco earlier in the year - an event that was attended by a good friend.
As the Noughties drew to a close, I did a recap of some of my favourite photos of the decade. You might want to take a look, if only to see Jake with cute animals.
2010
As 2009 ended and 2010 began, Brothers at last came out after a ridiculously long wait for a film that had been finished long before.
But there were two big highlights for me in 2010. Firstly, the premiere of Prince of Persia in London. An absolutely fantastic event despite the ridiculous setting for it. Again, I was lucky to share the day with good friends and I am very proud that my dear friend Ruby took the best photo of Jake I ever saw from that day. One of the reports here.
The other highlight was in November when I was able to attend the London press conference for Love and Other Drugs thanks to Bleeding Cool! And this meant that finally Love and Other Drugs was out!
2011
2011 was the year of Source Code! After its success at the SXSW festival, it was released around the world to a great reception. I had a great time in Berlin when the film screened there, giving me the opportunity to meet more of Jake's fans while watching Jake from the comfort of a cinema seat with a footstool!
Eureka was one of my friends who was able to see - and meet - Jake elsewhere on the tour - this time in Madrid. She got some brilliant photos!
Jake's hair was a source of fascination in 2011 with Jake at times doing a fine impression of Sasquatch. And then along came End of Watch and all of that changed. Baldy Jake in Uniform emerged.
But without doubt one of the highlights of 2011 - and indeed of the last five years - was Jake's appearance with Brit Bear Grylls on Man vs Wild. This set new standards in the torture of celebrities on television and earned Jake enormous kudos across the media.
And so...
After a quiet period, excitement looms! Jake is about to begin filming An Enemy and will soon be making his debut on the NYC stage. I have no doubt that there will be stories to tell from that! And of course End of Watch will finally reach the big screen. With new management and a new haircut, the future looks rosy! I look forward to following it with all of you. Many thanks to everyone who has shared the last five years with me - Cheers!
