With a day to go til his NYC stage debut, Jake Gyllenhaal talks about acting, directing and surprising his fans

I am delighted to say that I am back! No longer are the walls around me canvas; the little flickering candles and lanterns are now bona fide lights, and instead of moths and mosquitoes I have a fridge full of beer (admittedly it has no food in it) for company. I also have a lot of catching up to do. I thought I'd get things started with the most obvious bits and pieces from the last few days, with thanks to everyone for the emails and tweets - especially BBMISwear, Susan and Mermon.

With If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet kicking off this Friday, it's not surprising that it's attracting attention. There is 'A conversation' with Jake in BroadwayWorld. I was interested to see that Jake mentions again the influence of Danny Kaye on his acting ambitions. Jake also talks about his character Terry: 'I love the way he talks, how he moves through the world. He is desperate to pull the truth out of everyone around him, but he is unable to face his own. He is a constant contradiction and like this broken, beating heart with legs.'

Especially intriguing are Jake's comments about his relationships with directors: 'If I have an idea, I will always share it – I’m not shy. I don’t believe in a dictatorship, but in the end it’s the director’s decision as to what will be suitable to their production. I like a director who has a clear and simple sense of what they want to say.' And, then, how about this? 'Variation keeps me inspired. I always like finding roles that are different from the one I played before. And I love playing intentions in scenes differently every night on stage and in every take on a movie. I always try and challenge myself and surprise my fans. It makes it fun for everyone.' It really does.

Do read the rest here.


Jake is also featured large in today's New York Times, which also includes a photo of Jake in rehearsal for the play. The interview shows how Jake has been reflecting on his career's direction, something so many of us do around these key birthdays: '“Around the time I hit 30, I asked myself if I was respecting acting as a craft,” he continued, frequently brushing his fingers through his thick hair, free of its black-on-black Yankees cap, “and if I was doing the right projects that deserved my attention and where I’m learning in a way that you might not feel at 15. So now it’s like I look at acting more as building little delicate cricket cages, with care and more thought.”'

Jake's young co-star in the play, Annie Funke, also talks a little about what it was like to work with Jake: '"I just reached a breaking point because I hadn’t quite realized before, until Jake was poking me, what it felt like to be picked on and bullied and how all of that must make Anna feel,” Ms. Funke said. “I was just completely overwhelmed. And Jake grabbed me and hugged me, and we finished the scene. He has looked out for me completely.”'



This post includes two video features on Jake from the Hollywood Reporter. If you're unable to see the videos, try here and here. There are also photos from the screening of End of Watch in the Hamptons last Sunday with Gwyneth Paltrow and the Seinfelds (with thanks to IHJ).

Emergency post - a brief catch up with Jake Gyllennhaal while in a tent...

I'm speaking to you this evening in the south west corner of a field being stared at by a bunch of brown cows no further than two foot away. After five days and nights of camping, it's unlikely my own mother would recognise me. There is also a very annoying little bird that has followed us around through Dorset, devon, Cornwall and back to Devon that we have named The Wakey Wakey Bird. I may be a vegetarian but I would quite happily broil it with potatoes.

All this means that I have missed a great deal in Jake Gyllenhaaldom and I don't have the internet access of battery power to do much until I'm back home in a couple of days. If this post breaks off midword then you'll know to blame my phone. I hear though that Jake was helicoptered into the Hamptons on Sunday night for the End of Watch screening with Gwynnie. There are photos here and more information here.

The excitement builds for End of Watch with a new trailer, which you can see here if this link below doesn't work.



This coming Friday Jake's NYC theatre debut takes place in If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet.There is much more to say on that and much else - thanks to all those who've sent me emails. I look forward to catching up with all the news and with you too in a couple of days. Expect  an Interlude or two!

New project! Jake Gyllenhaal to star in Mississippi Grind? And Gwyneth Paltrow screens End of Watch

No wonder Jake Gyllenhaal's not doing much sport at the moment, how on earth would he find the time?! Previews of If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet start next week and today we learn that Jake will be attending a special screening of End of Watch on Sunday hosted by Proof co-star Gwyneth Paltrow (you remember, the co-star that cried a lot).

To top it off, we have news that Jake may well have signed the dotted line on his next movie project - Mississippi Grind, written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. Both were responsible for a film that Jake has named as one of his favourites, Half Nelson starring Ryan Gosling.

The Hollywood Reporter broke today's news and tells us: 'The story centers on a down-on-his-luck gambler facing crushing debt who teams up with a younger gambling addict (Gyllenhaal) in an attempt to change his luck. The two set off on a road trip through the South with visions of winning back what has been lost. The lead character would be a plum role for Hollywood's fortysomething set. WME, which reps Fleck, Boden and Gyllenhaal, is packaging the project, which would fall in the less-than-$10 million budget.'

Several things to note here: a) less than $10 million budget? It's fair to say then that it won't feature aliens or battleships; b) at long last I might learn to spell Mississippi; c) who would you cast as the 'fortysomething'? I would definitely like to see Robert Downey Jr in the role but it's quite possible that any and all of the Avengers may be ruled out by the (tiny) budget.

So, as they say, watch this space!

My review of The Hunter is now on MovieBrit.

End of Watch's new redband trailer!

End of Watch has a new trailer! And it's the x-rated, r-rated redband trailer and so that means if you're under 17 you must leave the room immediately and not be tempted (there will be random checks of ID and I may ask questions about current affairs in the mid 1990s). I recommend that you drink a very sugary drink and have some sweets first because you're about to get quite an adrenalin rush. If the link below doesn't work for you, you can find the trailer here.

Off in search of a darkened room...

Jake Gyllenhaal still sporty? And a catch up

The Olympic Games is over and while this means that life in Britain can return to something approaching normality, one also hopes that it won't lose all of the magic and happiness that has transformed the place over the last 16 days or so. Great Britain has been a wonderful place to live and it's quite possible it won't be the same place again. The Olympics has rather got in the way of blogging, however, and so that is one thing I can put to rights. So thank you for your patience!

Jake Gyllenhaal of course, speaking of sport, told Details magazine that his days of working out were behind him. Fortunately, Jake must have been crossing his fingers because the tweets have been in full flow (here is another one) about how Jake has been distracting the Soul Cycle devotees of NYC. Would his presence in the class make you spin faster? Or would you just freewheel?

Jake has also been spotted walking around NYC. According to the NY Daily News 'Jake Gyllenhaal's famous face did not get him special access to the set of “Smash” Wednesday night. The hunky movie star was strolling down Mercer St. in SoHo with a mystery woman when the pair stumbled upon the set of the hit NBC show starring Katharine McPhee and Debra Messing. The street was closed to the general public, and when Gyllenhaal, sporting black gym shorts and a hat, and his pretty brunette babe tried to walk down Mercer they were stopped by security. According to our eagle-eyed spy on the street, after inquiring what was going on, Gyllenhaal was told by security he had to take a detour, and the actor complied humbly.'



Anna Kendrick has been promoting her film Paranorman and took the chance to speak about what it was like to improvise on the set of End of Watch: 'Actually, in places, it was difficult to remember that, because we were improvi[s]ng so much for so long. And there would be times where we would allow a real conversation to just bleed into a scene. So there would be times when Jake [Gyllenhaal] would be telling me that something happened in his home town and I'd think, 'Wait – YOUR hometown or Brian's hometown? But that was exciting. Then it's trying to remember, ‘Okay, once we are in a scene I am this character and I am not myself.’ Because, yeah, the line started getting really blurry. But that was exciting.'



Thanks to IHJ for the picture.

An interview with Jake Gyllenhaal and a WDW Olympian Interlude

Details magazine has published its full interview with Jake Gyllenhaal from its September issue - and it makes for interesting reading. Jake is clearly in character(s) as An Enemy takes shape and the duality of his roles is extremely intriguing. Also, though, this is a very different Jake from the one we know from Prince of Persia and Love and Other Drugs, to name but two. Jake is now not running and cycling as much as he did - in this new persona, he is black and white, bearded and smoking. Interesting. You can read the full interview here. There is also a video of the photoshoot (if the video below doesn't work for you, you'll find it on the end of the previous link).



I was fascinated by the revelation by Anne Hathaway that it was Jake at the other end of the line as she acted out her last scene in Brokeback Mountain, the scene that tour my heart out: ''It's no accident. Jake takes it all very seriously but also has a very light touch," explains Anne Hathaway, his costar in Love and Other Drugs and Brokeback Mountain. "On Brokeback, my final scene was on the phone with Heath, who was in Venice for Casanova. Jake offered to read Heath's lines. On the last take, he changed the line, ever so slightly. That kicked off something in me, and lo and behold, that's the take in the film."

Do read the full interview with Details. I can't wait to get hold of a copy.

WDW Olympian Interlude

If you've been on Mars with Curiosity than you might be forgiven for missing a certain sporting event. The Olympics has grabbed hold of Great Britain and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been transported into a parallel world off glittering golds and silvers over the last couple of weeks. It's been incredible. Like many people, I've been largely unsuccessful with the ticket hunt but I did get one of the tickets for the Men's Triathlon. And I was lucky - half a million people applied for the 20,000 tickets. I was one of the ticketed standing. This meant I couldn't see the medal ceremony but I could hear it and I could sing along. Just as well because brother Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee won the gold and bronze respectively for TeamGB. What an unbelievable achievement for them and an extraordinary experience for me.

It's fair to say the crowds went wild. It's quite possible I'll not be able to speak tomorrow what with all the cheering for each and every athlete. The only beings not to be too bothered were the noisy quarrelsome geese behind me on the Serpentine.

 

The Brownlees: Alistair ran in for gold while Jonathan had to take 15 seconds out for penalty. This made no difference to the result and he claimed the bronze. Spain won the silver. There were many Spanish in the crowd as well as people from all other nations. I enjoyed cheering for the lot.

Other things seen today, the Brit gold medallist rower Greg Searle (the recipient of a fair amount of awe) and a regimental goat.

A wonderful day I will never forget. Proud.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena's chemistry in End of Watch didn't come naturally, and Won't Back Down screens in NYC

It has been one of those weeks - extremely slow on the Jake Gyllenhaal News Front but as speedy as you like in the World of Sport. Fortunately, while Jake is busy learning his lines for If There Is (not one of his favourite activities judging from reports during his stage appearance in London - his father was so worried about Jake forgetting his lines he wrote a poem about it), we have that little sporting event the Olympics to enjoy. I'm now an expert on sports I didn't know existed a fortnight ago.

End of Watch draws ever nearer - and even more so too with the suggestion that its release may be moving forwards in countries other than the US. It has a page in Total Film's September Buzz section, which you can see here. There is a fascinating segment in it about how Jake and Michael Pena had to work at that essential chemistry. 

Michael: 'There was not much we had in common... Jake grew up in Hollywood, his mum's a screenwriter, his dad's a director. My parents were farmers. I'm sure he worked really hard too, but I had to work hard just to get enough money to go to Hollywood.' In the end, though, chemistry and mutual respect won out, perhaps even more so because each of them had to work on it. Thanks to IHJ for  the picture.

Won't Back Down

Meanwhile, Maggie has a whole line of movies in the offing. The latest is Won't Back Down and last Friday there was a premiere screening in NYC. There are lots of pictures here - the one below features Maggie with co-stars Viola Davies and Rosie Perez.

Now where was I? Oh yes..... GOLD!!!!!!!