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.