Has Jake's Giant Leap taken two steps backwards? And Jake dances to Rufus' 14th Street

Jake Gyllenhaal may have only just stepped off the set of one film but now we're waiting to find out what's next - will it be Nailed or will it be the Unnamed Moon Project, which may be named afterall, just not named very well, as Giant Leap? When Jake was interviewed for the UK's Channel 5 News back in October 2007, he affirmed that his next or next-to-next project was on the moon (as it were). And so I thought that maybe UMP maybe next for Jake after Brothers.



But then we hear that Nailed has a startdate of April 14. Not only that, it's actual production, according to IMDb, began in January. It is due to film in South Carolina and Connecticut and, possibly not coincidentally, the ACLU charity site had this prize on its bidding list a short time ago: 'The winner of this auction lot will visit Gyllenhaal on the set of his latest film in Connecticut, at a mutually agreeable date from the end of March through April 2008.'


No more has been heard of the Unnamed (or Badly named) Moon Project until this week and the imminent release of UMP director Doug Liman's new film Jumper. This UGO feature on Jumper was published this week:

UGO: What can you tell me about your upcoming moon colonization project?
DL: It's with Jake Gyllenhaal. We're in development on it. It's a script I wrote about ten years ago. I think the greatest accompanishment in our lifetime really was the Apollo program. And rather than just tell the history of the first lunar landing, I want to make it relevant to a young audience by having the group today recreate what the Apollo program did forty years ago.'


In another interview, with Coming Soon, Doug was asked: 'What's next for you? The writers' strike is over, and while I assume you want to rest because this has been a long journey, do you think you'll jump right into "Untitled Moon Project" next and will you actually go to the moon to stay in line with how you made this movie? Liman: Yeah, I'm thinking very seriously about that film, and I basically have two approaches to it. The movie would cost about $100 million to make, so how much would it cost to actually go to the moon and make an IMAX documentary instead? Could I spend $99 million going to the moon and a million dollars shooting an IMAX movie or is it going to be a fictional story. I think ultimately, it's going to be cheaper to make the movie than to physically go (to the moon).'


And to add further confusion on the projected start date for UMP's production, MTV's movie blog seems to indicate that Doug may be first doing a biopic of CIA agent Valerine Plame, starring Nicole Kidman.

So I'm completely none the wiser and as confused as ever. I'm beginning to think that we may have to wait for Jake in Space until after Nailed. But with filming to start on Nailed in April, we'll know soon enough. I don't know what it is about UMP, but it brings out the October Sky and Moonlight Mile in me.


Jake dances along to Rufus

One thing we do know is that Jake went to see WDW favourite Rufus Wainwright again, a couple of nights ago, with a couple of buddies, at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. According to one account: 'The crowd was fantastic. At one point in the middle of the show, Rufus was standing at the microphone trying to say something, but we are screaming so loudly and wouldn't let him speak. He loved it. He said, "I feel like Obama." The LA crowd definitely made him feel loved.'



'It was a seated venue, but a lot of the crowd got on their feet for 14th Street and Beautiful Child. It was fun to see Jake Gyllenhaal two rows behind us standing, dancing and singing his heart out to 14th Street. After Beautiful Child Rufus said, "when I wrote that song I thought how the hell am I going to sing that!......I sing it every night now."' Jake's certainly seen Rufus enough to have all the words learned by heart but it really is so good to hear of Jake having such a good time - and to a track as great as 14th Street too. This picture shows Rufus attending the Zodiac NYC party back in the Spring of 2007 - almost a year ago. The picture below that is gratuitous.




Includes pictures from IHJ and Getty.

Jake on being Douglas - 'It was like playing poker everyday'

To coincide with the stunning pictures of Jake Gyllenhaal at the Los Angeles Rendition press conference that I Heart Jake have so kindly posted for us today, here is a video interview that Jake conducted on the same day for a French broadcaster. In addition to Jake looking sensational, albeit hairy, he also gets to speak a little bit of French - adding to our collection of Jake talking in foreign tongues (one of these days he'll do cockney, surely?). Click on these pictures and they shall be large and beautiful.



Jake is asked about the name of his character in Rendition (Douglas Freeman) and if he had to do some sort of psychological preparation to do the part. 'Mostly it was trying to hold as much as I could back. I think performances are always considered performances when there's a lot of emotion, when they're emoting. Emotions are complicated in that holding them back is what we usually tend to do. And this character in particular is not free - I mean that's his last name - he can't show his emotions so I found that the most interesting part of the character... There's just a struggle to protect, keep a game-face - it was like playing poker everyday!'



On the possible dangers of being in Morocco. 'I think before I went there I was concerned about safety, just because I had never been there before and didn't know. But there was never once a concern while I was there. It's kind of amazing actually how open and loving and giving everybody in Marrakesh and Morocco - we shot mostly in Marrakesh but we also shot around Morocco - how wonderful they all were. I mean they were - that culture in particular - any sort of scepticism or paranoia on my part was kind of obliterated by their kindness. Not to choose a word that you use with acts of bombing, but it really was. Their kindness obliterated that American kind of paranoia that I have.'



The interviewer quotes Jake who once said that we live in a sad world where politicians are actors and actors are politicians and asks if Jake believes that actors can't make a political statement. 'No, I just think the job of acting - the irony that most people think the job of acting and I think most actors believe that acting is an act - it is dishonest somewhere. I guess what I was trying to say is that it's a sad time when everybody doesn't get to be honest. It's a sad time when everybody is afraid to be honest and to actually look into themselves and ask themselves what they actually believe.'



'And I feel like I, most of the time, I feel that an actor is a member of the human race and should be able to say what they feel about things and I feel like politicians should be also able to say the truth and not have to worry about what everybody thinks - that they're not, that they're going to lose their vote. And the irony of all that, I think that if everybody did do that, everybody would be a lot calmer [laughs] or more peaceful and there would be better movies made [laughs].'

As for the press conference itself, you can find out more about that and what Jake had to say here.



Pictures from IHJ.

Jake on Brokeback - 'one of the last myths that has never been told'

You don't often expect a reporter at the Financial Times to open his heart and pen an emotional and personal tribute to a lost actor, but Heath Ledger's performance in Brokeback Mountain is an inspiration to many, including Harry Eyres. Thanks indeed to Winterbird for letting us know about this wonderful piece of writing, so clearly produced by a fellow brokie.


'Sometimes a premature passing hits you hard. So it was for me, and I guess many thousands of others, with the sudden death of the actor Heath Ledger at 28. I did not know Ledger and my acquaintance with his work was limited to a single screen performance but his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain was so moving, so astonishingly mature, that it seemed the start of one of the truly great movie acting careers.'


'Ennis is one of those people who, for all sorts of reasons, are opaque to themselves. This is what Heath Ledger so marvellously conveys, in his slow-burning, laconic performance: a man struggling over the course of a whole life to come to terms, not so much with his sexuality (I do not see this only as a gay film but more universally as a film about blocked love) as with his tremendous need for love and, ultimately, with his ability to give love. "He brought to the role of Ennis", said Ang Lee, "more than any of us could have imagined - a thirst for life, for love, and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him."'


'All is conveyed through the subtlest of gestures and changes of expression: the hand on the shoulder and the smile of kindness and comprehension on the face of Roberta Maxwell's Mrs Twist; Ennis's expression when he sees Jack's blood-stained jacket. Finally, you feel, Ennis's heart is well and truly broken. And the broken-hearted Ennis will no longer be violent and uncomprehending in the face of love.'

It seems right that Brokeback Mountain and Heath Ledger's performance are placed here in the context of Shakespeare - King Lear and sonnets - because this is the stuff that drives great drama - tragedy, passion, true love.


Inspired by this rich essay, I hope you won't mind if I post here another feature about Brokeback Mountain. Written in September 2005 at the Toronto Film Festival, the Cincinnati CityBeat article includes short interviews with both Jake Gyllenhaal and Ang Lee. Amongst some familiar words from Jake, the piece includes some words from him which belong very well with Harry Eyres' piece, but this time, they come from the other cowboy.

When Jake is asked if times have changed since the time in which Brokeback is set, he's not optimistic: '"If they (people) were ready for it, I don't think the film would be a great piece of artistic work," he says. "I think people often make movies that people are ready for, and these movies come and go. I don't think people are ready for it, and that's what makes it a great work of art... I look at this story as author Annie Proulx walking in the forest, and she comes and finds a book under a tree and discovers one of the last myths that has never been told. It's odd that it's never been told, but it hasn't."'


'"Challenging is not the right word for this movie... We all got caught in the idea of what love is supposed to be, and movies and books and stories all show love in a particular way. I know in my own life I have lived in the cliché of guy gets girl and guy loses girl and guy gets girl again. It has led to unhappiness in my life. This film says if the outside world wasn't there and no judgment or outside opinion about who you should love or can't love, would you still be loving the person that you love today? Or would you be making other choices in your life? And if you would bring the person you love to Brokeback Mountain, would you still love them? And if you do, it's true love."'


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Jake - 'Men are courageous if they can talk about their feelings'

Last night, the BAFTA Awards included a film tribute to the movie stars and movie makers who have been lost over the last year. Always sad, this tribute was more moving than ever because it inevitably ended with Heath. For anyone who wasn't able to see it and would like to, here is the clip, which also records the sadness of the audience, noticeably Heath's co-star in Casanova, Sienna Miller.



'To be honest, I can't stand beans' - Jake talks Brokeback

The Berlin International Film Festival (BIFF?) is underway. One film showing there - Elegy - features Peter Sarsgaard. Past films that have made an impression at the festival include Candy. I'm using this as an excuse to post an interview Jake made with cinema.de to publicise Brokeback Mountain. As always, translations are mine and so any errors are also mine and not Jake's. This post includes new old photographs of Jake out for a stroll in New York City back on 2 March 2007, which IHJ kindly posted for us today.


When asked if it's right to call Brokeback Mountain the 'gay cowboy movie', Jake replies: 'Actually, only people who don't know the film can say that. For me, it's a moving drama about life and love. Years ago, when my father spoke to me about my desire to become an actor, he said to me that a good film always has to be a little ahead of its time. The job of an actor in a film like this is to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. My father's advice impressed me so much that I immediately accepted Brokeack Mountain.'


'Does the film offer a new definition of masculinity?' Jake replies that Hollywood offeres stereotypes to define what's male, which doesn't make it easy for normal men. 'I find the sensitivity side of maleness most interesting. Men are courageous if they can talk about their feelings... In that way, hopefully Brokeback Mountain helps a little to correct concepts of maleness.'


Jake also says that having a stuntman jump off the cliff for him in Brokeback (unlike Heath) was nothing to do with not wanting to be seen naked! He wanted to avoid the risk of getting hurt so close to the casting for Jarhead, but 'You're welcome to write I'm a coward!'

Jake also discusses the preparation he needed to go through before filming the more intimate scenes with Heath and says that 'I wanted to be alone and concentrate before the scenes, in make-up in the morning.'


On what it was like to kiss a man instead of a girl: 'It's really interesting, because all the journalists want to know that. If I'd killed him instead, no one would ask what it feels like to kill another man...' And whether having to kiss a man or a woman on camera 'There is always a slight discomfort. But it's part of the job, so I do it.'

Jake is asked if he's known true love, he says no, and at 25 is gathering experiences. 'I find it strange when other young actors talk about love in interviews... At my age, you can only say if you're in love or not. That has nothing to do with love. Love is when you can survive crises together for a long time, and then still matter to each other. My parents could tell them...'


Incidentally, reminding me of a comment Jake made on Tonight with Jonathan Ross, Jake says that, after working with the animals on the film, 'I've often imagined living on a farm in the future.'

Finally, on whether Jake's a better cook than Jack Twist: 'This part of the role is very different from me. I love Italian food and I love studying cookbooks. One of my best friends is the chef at Babo's, a restaurant in New York. To be honest, I can't stand beans.'


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Brothers wraps on BAFTA Sunday

At noon today, New Mexico time, so in just a few hours' time, the cast and crew of Brothers will pack up and leave Los Alamos with the film in the can. And the countdown to the projected release date of 4 December 2008 begins.


While one commenter on IMDb posted their sighting: 'This past thursday I saw Jake in the bar where I work which is across the street froma home where they were shooting some scenes. God is he gorgeous!! He was in there with the director and some of the crew drinking.', another mentioned that all the stars had been in town filming last week. Always good to hear reports of Jake's gorgeousness, which, of course, is never in doubt.


There are indications that this has been a strenuous shoot, with little regard for the tedious 9 to 5 routine. Extra 'Mike the Taliban' has posted more information about life on the Brothers' set: 'This last gig on “Brothers” was the most active (less time sitting around) and certainly the c-c-c-oldest for all of us. The sets really looked like Hollywood back lots, with gung-ho Marines, guys with guns and turbans running around, and tons of lights and equipment. But this was back-country New Mexico in the middle of a cold winter. We kept warm by the fires and occasional portable heaters, keeping on our Western parkas until we heard the AD shout “picture’s up” and we’re placed for the next shot. We then take off the extra clothes and leave on the costumed stars like Tobey Maguire have costumers that keep on their parkas until the last possible moment then whisked them away - when that same AD (Assistant Director) shouts “rolling, rolling…!” My last Friday on the set, now way out in the middle of the Zia pueblo, we had an 18 hour day! Even for an extra, that’s a lot of overtime!'


With a release date set for December this year, Brothers has already been mentioned by Variety as a possible contender for the Oscars in 2009, particularly for its interesting director-actors combo. Of course, Heath Ledger's Joker may well be remembered at the Oscars in 2009.



Talking of the awards season. Tonight is the British Academy Film Awards, again from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. But this time, of course, it's all very different from last year. This year, I'll be watching the ceremony from home, but my thoughts will be back there a year ago to the day when I first saw Jake Gyllenhaal. I'll also be crossing my fingers for Daniel Day Lewis and Cate Blanchett and trying to hold it together when the Academy remembers those who have been lost. Here's a happy reminder of last year.



Here's another video of Jake on the red carpet at the BAFTAs - although you have to sort of lie on your side or turn your monitor around - which I'd never seen before. It shows the moment when Jake has his picture taken with a girl and I realised that myself and my friends were just a few feet away at that point, as I remember watching the photo being taken. I think the chaos (and angle!) of this video gives a great impression of what it was like as we tried to follow Jake down the red carpet.



So my thoughts and love are also with my three BAFTA Sisters on our anniversary (strictly tomorrow I know, but it feels like it should be today)! Includes pictures from IHJ.

A Celebration of Life and Love

Heath's memorial service and funeral ended just as he would have wanted it, with his friends and family splashing around on Cottesloe Beach before watching the sunset, arms linked, and toasting 'Heathy'. You can see the photos here and here and they are wonderful - and is there anything better today than to see that smile on Michelle's face, knowing how well she's being supported? Here is an account of the memorial service. Here is another.



One very fitting tribute for Heath is that his last movie, Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, will be completed afterall and all of Heath's scenes will stay in it, where they belong. How this influences the recent suggestion/rumour that Jake Gyllenhaal, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Christian Bale would each contribute a scene to the film is anyone's guess. This announcement was made on the Terry Gilliam site, Dreams:



'The producers of The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus have been in touch with Dreams. There has been some misleading information out on the Internet, including at IMDB, suggesting that the film has been shut down. IMDB also removed Dr Parnassus from the list of Heath Ledger's films. It has been a very difficult time on the production, because all involved have been grieving and assessing the future. Since Heath Ledger's death, the producers have kept quiet, but now they have told Dreams that shooting of Dr Parnassus will recommence very soon. More information on how the production will continue without Heath will be released in the next few days. But the producers have revealed that all of Heath's performance will remain in the film.'

An official Dr Parnussus website is being set up and will be running very soon, possibly this weekend.


Many of us have been spending a lot of time over the last two weeks immersing ourselves in Brokeback Mountain. With Valentine's Day on the horizon, Brokeback Mountain is being hailed as a film for lovers. While I may not like the commercialism of 14 February, I do like this renewed association of Brokeback with love and, if you want to settle down on that night with your loved one to watch a romantic movie, then you could do far worse than this one. Admittedly, unsuspecting viewers would be wise to heed the advice of Jake - 'Bring tissues and don't wear mascara'.


ReelzChannel have placed Brokeback as No 2 in their Top 10 list of romantic films: 'When I watched Brokeback Mountain, I thought, ‘What’s all the fuss about? I mean, yeah, sure it’s pretty, but basically this is what good movies should be, not the second coming or anything.’ And then it was days later and this tragic story was still in my head; it had just sunk its teeth into me and years later it still hasn’t let go. That Heath Ledger didn’t get the Oscar for his stunning, restrained performance as Ennis Del Mar, a cowboy who unwittingly finds himself in love with fellow cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) was a crime then and is even more so now in light of his recent death. This movie is heavy, heartbreaking, and beautiful.'

Their top choice is The English Patient, which, when I saw it, completely traumatised me, and not in a good way, giving me nightmares for weeks. If my lover turned up with that as an offering on Valentines Day he'd be out on his ear, chocolates or no chocolates.


The CD and DVD store HMV conducted a survey of its buyers and staff to discover its list of top 50 romantic films. All the old favourites are there - with Romeo and Juliet at No 1 - but Brokeback is there at no 19. There are some fabulous films in this list and I'm pleased to report that The English patient is no higher than No 30. I was in a HMV store today and their video of famous movie kisses was extremely distracting. It obviously did the trick as I walked out of the shop with an album of love songs - right now I'm listening to Roxy Music singing Jealous Guy.


An article by Sarah Riley in Post Crescent assesses what it is that makes certain onscreen romances believable. What makes some onscreen couples fizzle while others fall flat? And singled out as among the best: 'Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger: "Brokeback Mountain" was groundbreaking on so many levels. For many people, it was the first love story where gender didn't really matter because these guys carry the story beyond stereotypes. OK, so this one's not a real "upper" movie either. Sometimes the best love stories aren't. It's one of those movies where you shouldn't really be rooting for the couple to get together because they're married to other people, but Gyllenhaal and Ledger play it so well that you want to watch them ride off into the sunset.'


And I must agree with Sarah's assessment of the Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen (lack of) chemistry in the Star Wars movies.


Includes pictures from Dr Parnassus, News Limited and Pop Sugar.

'A friend indeed' - Cowboys in love, cowboys alone

Many miles away from here, in Perth, it is now early Saturday morning, which means that, as far as we know, Heath will be laid to rest in a few hours, among family and friends, in a town he loved and which still loves him.

This post will be constantly updated as more information becomes available about today.


The neighbourhood where Heath's mother lives looks to be almost under siege, by both police and photographers - the intense privacy of Heath's family at uncomfortable odds with the media's preoccupation with their son. After all, this isn't Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, this is Applecross, Perth, and this is a normal loving and private family. A local paper said that Jake has arrived in Perth, but this is as yet unsubstantiated, and little mention of his presence has been made.



According to a report, Heath's 'parents Kim and Sally Ledger want to follow a sombre ceremony with a celebration on Cottesloe Beach in their native Perth, Australia. Childhood friend Paul Mullert tells The Australian Times newspaper Ledger was "the quintessential Australian, who loved nothing more (than) slipping on a pair of boardies and his (flip-flops) and heading to Cottesloe Beach."' Here's the beach - what a place to spend a hot summer's evening. Of course, Heath won't be there - by then he'll be buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.


Here are more details of the family's farewell this evening. Love as always to Heath's family, friends and fans, especially during the next few hours and days.

The cowboy in love now a cowboy alone

In 2006, Jake Gyllenhaal appeared on the cover of Italian Vanity Fair as part of the promotion for Brokeback Mountain. The legend on the cover calls this stunning young man a cowboy in love, a theme that is continued on Jake's new Italian Vanity Fair cover, but now that cowboy is alone. Here are both covers, as well as the beautiful picture inside the 2006 issue, here divided into two, of Ang Lee with both Jake and Heath. I know this is a favourite picture of more than one reader here, myself included.



A huge thanks to Xenia and Sonia who have done great work in translating this interview for us all - thereby throwing light on the mystery of the never ending supply of cappuccinos brought to the hotel suite where the interview took place. I hadn't realised at the time, but the feature begins with the description of Jake sitting quietly in the director's chair on the set of Brothers, staring into space, trying to take in what had happened. A whole new level is added to Jake's words, which, so often enigmatic and open to interpretation, now are poignant reminders of a friend lost.



Jake has talked about Heath before, most recently when Jake appeared on the Jonathan Ross Show, but here he describes how much he cares for him: 'Ours has been a blind date. In the movie we had to play the part of two lovers, but we had never exchanged more than a couple of words, we had no idea if we would have been fine together. But Brokeback Mountain worked because we found that “feeling”. In the story, Jack and Ennis don’t know each other, and fall in love slowly and in the same way we have slowly liked each other. And have become friends. Friends indeed: I think you can see this in the movie.' As the cover says: 'Brokeback Mountain has given me the most important experience of my career, and a friend indeed.'

As always, noone can flirt like Jake Gyllenhaal, and, right at the beginning, when the interviewer introduces herself, Jake's response is: 'mmm... Just Gorgeous.'


And finally...

Farragut North is off - as far as Jake's concerned, and as far as Mike Nichols is concerned. Now, Doug Hughes will direct the play, with performances beginning in the summer. Jake seems to have a busy year ahead of him as far as movies go and maybe there wasn't the time for this project. I would have loved to have seen Jake on the stage - and at the stage door - but the idea of 2009 full of Jake movies is a happy one.


Includes pictures from IHJ, ATC, Vanity Fair.