Oscars come, Oscars go and it was not to be in 2013. While Jake Gyllenhaal (and myself, come to think of it) gave the awards a miss, no doubt he was watching, cheering on his Prisoners co-star, the Well-Voiced Hugh Jackman, and cheering along with the rest of us as Anne Hathaway and Ang Lee won their Academy Awards. Many congratulations to Anne and Ang - Brokeback Mountain's representatives did very well indeed.
A few years ago it was very different and back in 2008, I headed over to LA to share in a little bit of the Oscar excitement, doing my best to gatecrash the biggest party of the year, The Night Before Party, at the the Beverly Hills Hotel. I won't forget it as long as I live. Here's the link for those who haven't seen it. More of that Oscars roadtrip is here. Happy days!
Jake is, of course, hard at work making Prisoners in Georgia. You can find some more information and photos from the set here. Just a couple of days after singing on stage in LA, Hugh Jackman was back on set with Jake.
There is plenty of information here on the film itself and the team behind it. There are big names, not least cinematographer Roger Deakins. There is also more on the story and Detective Loki's part in it.
'How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release.
Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The desperate father will do whatever it takes to find the girls, but in doing so, he may lose himself, begging the question: When do you cross the line between seeking justice and becoming a vigilante?'
Thanks are due to IHJ for some new old photos of Jake, which do so much to us keep us going at these relatively quiet days. Rendition Jake is always a welcome bonus!
At the New York premiere for Beautiful Creatures this week, Interview magazine asked the lovely Emmy Rossum for embarrassing memories from when she was 16 years old:
"I was filming The Day After Tomorrow, it was my first big film, and I had to kiss Jake Gyllenhaal, so I was really nervous. The night before, I got a big zit and, stupidly, I picked at it, so then it was bigger and infected and had a scab over it. Jake called it my ‘third eye,'" Rossum recalled. Her 16-year-old self was crushed —"He's never going to want to kiss me now!"
In an earlier interview for USA Weekend (the link now no longer exists except in the WDW archives), we were told: 'This 19-year-old is no wallflower. When she met hunky star Jake Gyllenhaal one morning a few years ago, Rossum pulled a move worthy of the Phantom. "I went over to him and said, 'Look, I know it's 9 a.m., but is it OK if I kiss you?' " Rossum recalls. When he consented ("He said, 'It's never too early!' "), she obliged. "I knew if I didn't do it, it would seem like I was scared. And I wanted to kiss him. He's very, very cute."'
There's more from A Girl's World on what it was like to work with Jake.
'Fantastic! He’s a fantastic guy. He’s very intelligent. It was funny because I was kind of like the only girl on the set. There was Mark Gordon, our producer, Roland, Jake, Dennis Quaid and me. So, he’s like the big brother I never had. So it was really nice. We also work in kind of a similar way. We both put a lot of emphasis on preparation but then we get there and we kind of let it rip and are intuitive in a lot of ways within the bounds of the character and the arc. I think we work really well together.... He’s quite goofy in reality. I think we were so cold and wet and shivering most of the time that nobody had enough energy to pull pranks after running through that tank 500 times in one day with Roland going ‘do it again’! But he’s very much positive. He has a lot of positive energy.'
There's another account of the audition with less kissing: 'I definitely auditioned. I went in and sat on the bench next to all the other girls that were auditioning. I wasn’t given any kind of special treatment by any means. I got a meeting with Roland and Mark, went in and read for them, got a screen test with Jake, went in and I did that. I knew that that screen test was the moment when I had to prove myself. That’s when you’ve gotta show it. You’ve gotta bring it. I think that anybody can run through water but not necessarily anybody can run through water while bringing the heart and emotion to the character.'
As for making chemistry: 'There was no choice for me. It was gonna be there. It also wasn’t difficult. He’s terribly attractive. So it wasn’t like the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my whole life but, at the same time, I think the heat had to be there. Somebody had to melt the ice! (laughter).'
Thanks to IHJ for the last new old picture from the Berlin photocall for The Day After Tomorrow.
Last weekend, London was soaked in torrential rain and sleet - that can mean only one thing: BAFTAs. And while Jake Gyllenhaal was not in attendance this year (probably just as well because when I saw Jake on the famously soapy BAFTA red carpet back in 2007, it took a good week before I could rid myself of lingering hypothermia), his Prisoners co-star was, the Well-Voiced Hugh Jackman. Hugh might not have beaten Daniel Day Lewis in the race to the Best Actor Gong but he did provide a very pleasant distraction from Helen Mirren's new pink hairdo. I don't want to say anything too harsh about the pink do because I still feel a little bit of guilt for yelling at her to get out of the way back in 2007 when she chose to linger right in front of Jake. Obviously this is understandable but it did little for my view.
You can read about my experience of the 2007 BAFTAs in strictly unnecessary detail here. The shaky nature of some of my photos can be blamed on extremely localised seismic activity.
With Well-Voiced Hugh busy in London, this no doubt left Jake with a bit of leisure time and so last weekend Jake was seen arriving at a hotel in Santa Monica. Was he in LA for the Mumford and Sons Grammy Victory, I wonder...? Many thanks to IHJ!
But while the filming seems remarkably low key, this week we got a very good look at Jake in character as Detective Loki when he was snapped being given the Heimlich Manoeuvre.
Otherwise, on the filming front, we have the little piece of news that the music is being recorded for An Enemy at the moment and it involves 'scary strings'.
Arts in the Armed Forces
Back in November, we were lucky to have our very own reporter, Lisa, at the Arts in the Armed Forces event in NYC, which Jake attended and gave a reading at. You can read Lisa's exclusive report here. This week, Lisa emailed me further photos from the event which not only show Jake but also Lisa and Ted! Jake is in full Face Pet disguise... It is well worth keeping an eye on the website for further photos. Thanks so much, Lisa!
King of Persia
The King of Persia has been speaking about the Prince of Persia. Richard Coyle reveals here that he and Jake are still good friends. With this brief interview, the happy memories come flooding back, a fair few of them involving ostriches.
'I did a play in the West End called 'Proof' with Gwyneth Paltrow, and then John Madden - the director - made a movie of it with Gwyneth Paltrow. And Jake played Hal [Harold Dobbs], my part. So Jake had been to see the play and we chatted. We sort of bonded over it. When we met again on 'Prince of Persia' there was a kind of dynamic of older brother, younger brother. Probably just because of that but also because I had played his part and he'd come and watch me do the original. I suppose there was a mutual respect and that already helped us together. And we have a lovely dynamic now, we still speak often.' Click and this pic shall be much embiggened.
And finally...
Stephanie has kindly uploaded new old pictures from a photoshoot for Jake's appearance in the West End production This is Our Youth back in 2002. There are lots more there, so thanks to IHJ.
This post must start with a disclaimer. I am writing it on an alien laptop, my own having decided to pull its own plug yesterday. Therefore, there is a high likelihood of a) typos; b) curses; c) violence. Actually, talking of curses and violence, this brings me on naturally to Jake Gyllenhaal's latest R-rated watch-from-behind-the-fingers movie, End of Watch, which is top of the US DVD sales chart. It is wonderful to see the film repeatting its box office success and this bodes well for the UK release in March. The film may have been rushed over in the theatres but it could come into its own on the smaller screen.
The other good news this week is the news from Deadline that Mississippi Grind, Jake's next film, is to start shooting in the spring. So straight on the heels of Prisoners, Jake will be back at work. Whether it's anywhere near the Mississippi is another matter. It's also good to hear that Mississippi Grind will be proffered at the Berlinale this year, just twelve months after we had the excitement of watching Jake notch up some jury service duty at the German festival.
Jake, meanwhile, continues to film Prisoners in Georgia mising it with visits to Whole Foods and NYC. We also hear that Jake is back doing his Spin classes, known in the gym where he's been seen in Atlanta as Fly Wheel Sports. 'He looked like he worked out hard'.It looks as if photos may be few and far between.
Some time ago we had a poll on WDW in which we put to the vote what type of film we would like to see Jake. The winner was a historical drama (possibly something to do with the white billowing shirts and tight trousers). With the UK gripped by Richard III following his discovery in a Leicester car park, more or less in one piece, the time is ripe for Jake to bring the past to life. I can just see him as a chivalrous knight fighting wrongs and blackguard lords. That or a pirate. What do you think? Any preference?
As we move into February, Jake Gyllenhaal has gone underground. Busy at work on Prisoners in Georgia, probably, he appears to have gone underground. Occasionally a twitter glimmer may sparkle but it's fair to say that there have been more sightings of the Tower of London's headless masked prisoner ghost over recent days than there has been of Jake Gyllenhaal. Obviously, if you spend all your time in Georgia's spin classes or whole food stores then you've almost certainly seen Jake every other day but, for the rest of us, Jake is as one with Detective Loki and has gone undercover.
Glimpses of Jake's co-star, the Tuneful Hugh Jackman, have been slightly more common. Jake has, though, been seen at 'Watershed's Uptown Martini with oysters, steak tartare, jambalaya, lamb ragout, coconut cake, sweet potato creme brûlée and hot milk cake'. I have only one thing to say to that - except for the fact that Jake has clearly not lost his appetite - but sweet potato in creme brulee?? The mind boggles.
The one bit of news we do have is that the DVD and blu ray of End of Watch now has a release date in the UK and it's not too far off at all - 18 March. If you fancy it, you can get a pretty posh edition from Amazon.
In the absence of news, it falls to my lot to post a couple of videos of Jake from bygone days. The first is from the Berlinale in 2012, almost a year ago now, followed by a little glimpse of an interview with a wee Jake from October Skies days. You will find more from this interview on these pages.
I also wanted to post this wonderful photo of Naomi Foner and Dakota Fanning from Sundance as well as a photo of Peter Sarsgaard with the Lovelace cast, also from Sundance.
Update.... Again!
I wanted to post a couple of videos from Sundance - one of the Very Good Girls premiere and the other from Lovelace. I feel that posting the latter is my civic duty because, through this video, you can see for yourself the full horror of what can happen if a Face Pet is allowed to run free and fed too much. No wonder Jake shaved his off. And there was me thinking it had something to do with Prisoners.
A couple of the featurettes from the End of Watch DVD have also been released thanks to 411mania.com. So here is Watch Your Six:
and Women on Watch
Update! Jake did indeed attention the premiere of Very Good Girls last night (sitting alongside Celebrity Godmother Jamie Lee Curtis) and how proud he looks! Many thanks to IHJ for these spectacular photos.
It's a big week for Jake Gyllenhaal and his family but I'd like to thank them for keeping it relatively low key while I had flu. Tonight, Naomi Foner's movie Very Good Girls - the film of the filmset that Jake frequently visited - has its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. There had been doubts about whether Jake would manage to be there - reminding me of last year when so many thought that Jake was there when all the time he wasn't (or was he?). This time, though, a series of tweets from excited people at Atlanta Airport makes it look as if Jake has indeed made the trip. No doubt in return for doing extra tea duty on the set of Prisoners.
Naomi has spoken a little today about what directing, a shift in her life, means to her.
'Time is not on my side. I came late to directing, although I’ve been writing screenplays for most of my life, so I am in a hurry. In my case, it was, grandma directs a movie. And that meant literally, limiting the time I got to spend with my favorite people on earth, my grand daughter Ramona, and her new sister, Gloria who arrived weeks before we began to shoot. That was a big trade off, but I am hoping that they will get to see this film, and others one day. That they will tell their own stories in some form, because grandma (and mom) keep telling theirs. It’s a struggle to balance family and work for men and women, and filmmaking is especially challenging. But it lets us touch people we would never otherwise know, while still holding our dear ones close. That seems like having your cake and eating it too.'
Of course it never rains but it pours (at least in Britain), and tonight Sundance also sees the screening of Lovelace, a film which stars Peter Sarsgaard. What a day! A big family desert reunion could be on the cards.
Sundance has been a popular film festival for Jake over the last 13 years or so, as just a quick search of the WDW archives reveals. Jake even featured in a movie shot at the Festival. Brokeback Mountain premiered at Sundance (Jake talks about that here) and Donnie Darko and Good Girls also had fine days in the sun.
And then there was this performance from 2004.
Detective Loki!
This week we got our first look at Jake's new Prisoners character Detective Loki. It's a look a little reminiscent of Nailed and Love and Other Drugs but has several things going for it, not least the well-shorn face. I want to take some scissors to that bouffant though... There are a set of photos over at PoPSugar, including this below of Jake and his relatively hairy co-star, the extremely well-voiced Hugh Jackman. Interestingly, this appears to be Jake's second film character with a neck tattoo! Maybe it would be easier if Jake just had one done.
End of Watch out on Blu Ray and DVD in the US
End of Watch is out in the US on disc today. While the rest of us have a while to wait at least this means we can hear something about the quality of the features. Unfortunately, as we knew, no Jake commentary (such a loss - who can't love Jake's commentaries to Bubble Boy, Donnie Darko, Moonlight Mile and Zodiac?).
'Feature Commentary with Writer/Director David Ayer: A deeply insightful commentary. Ayer goes into a lot of detail explaining his choices for END OF WATCH.
Deleted Scenes (46:41): Seventeen deleted, extended and alternate scenes that at a lot of depth to the characters and film. Although interesting, most of these were rightfully cut to maintain focus and proper pacing. However, I think a few of these would have been OK to keep in the final cut.
Featurettes (10:59): Five very short fluff featurettes about 2 minutes each that offer nothing of much substance – “Fate with a Badge,” “In the Streets,” “Women on Watch,” “Watch Your Six” and “Honors"'
There's a further assessment at CinemaBlend which makes good reading.
This, I believe, may be a DVD feature but it may not be...
Mission!
So, all of you out there in Atlanta and Utah - keep your eyes peeled and those cameras primed!
As the well-known expression goes, the proof is in the pudding and without doubt the latest pictures of Jake Gyllenhaal are a big, fat, luxurious blancmange of a pudding, proving beyond all reasonable doubt that the beard really has gone. It was not just wishful thinking brought on by a blurry photo, a magnifying glass and a Jake Gyllenhaal Identification Kit.
Last Sunday (13 January), Jake was courtside to watch (spoiler) the Brooklyn Nets beat the Indiana Pacers in Brooklyn, NYC. There is a brief video here of highlights so get that Jake Spotting Kit out again. Thanks to IHJ for the lovely photo of a very Renditiony like Jake.
There is another video, though, and so with thanks to Laure for the link...
And here's a photo from it. There are no words to describe Peter's beard. Suddenly the Face Pet seems like such an innocent creature.
Prisoners
Filming is due to start on Prisoners tomorrow (16 January) with no doubt a very happy and tuneful Hugh Jackman. More clues about the filming have emerged, such as reports of false snow (if they were filming in the UK they'd not have to worry about any such false snow nonsense - I believe that Oxford would make a fine movie city double). There has also been an additional casting of a Dark Knight villain David Dastmalchian.
The filmmakers are also extremely set in their ways about what sort of cars they want in Prisoners as can be seen in this bit of casting information:
'The first casting call I’ve seen for this one seeks men and women ages 18 to 55 with cars of various colors, but not red, white, really bright or with custom paint jobs.'
Why not red? Why not white or bright? My car is blue, if only I weren't so far away...
There is more information about the filming location here.
One thing is for sure, the attachment of Hugh Jackman to Prisoners in this great year for Hugh can bring nothing but good to this exciting project.
Talking of Hugh Jackman, here is a shamefully blatant link to my review of Les Miserables (This link should now work!)
Grind
There is also more news about the project after Prisoners (probably), Mississippi Grind. Not only is Jake set to be one of the two male leads in this film but he he is also producing, doubling the potential significance of this film.
Variety reports that Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingom) is in talks to play the older of the two men - the 'a gambler in debt who sets off on a road trip through the Southern U.S. with a young gambling addict in an attempt to change his luck'.
'Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck will write and direct the pic. Besides Gyllenhaal, Lynette Howell, John Lesher and Jamie Patricof will also be producing through Electric City Entertainment.'
Further background information comes from Cinemablend.
All in all, exciting times! With no Face Pet!
Thanks again to IHJ for the beautiful old new photos from the Love and Other Drugs days of 2011.
