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.