Jake - 'I want the ability to swim deep or go shallow'

Jake Gyllenhaal has been busy - after last year's six months off, Jake threw himself into the movie star deepend with a vengeance - Brothers, Nailed, possibly Prince of Persia, possibly Joe Namath's biopic and hopefully a piece of Moon Project action to fit into the puzzle. The reasoning behind Jake's choice of roles is a fascinating subject, and not only for the roles he takes, but also for those he doesn't.


The disadvantage Jake may feel he's been under (whether that's relevant or not now is a different matter) is that he's not good at auditions, even though he may be called to them by directors who hold him as first choice. This was the case with Jarhead and Sam Mendes - Jake remembered (with shudders, by the sound of it): 'Then began our sado-masochistic relationship but I remember calling him, I had read with him, and I said maybe I shouldn’t read because I’m not very good in auditions. But I read and I was horrible and then I didn’t hear from him so I called him on the phone and said I was perfect for this part and would do anything to play it and he never called me back! It continued like that and then a couple of months later I got the part, but it was a long audition process…'


It seems Jake had been up against Tobey Maguire and Leo DiCaprio. However, Jake was fortunate because, as Sam said at the time: 'It's not necessarily going to be all stars and I think you may find a new generation of actors coming through.' It's worth noting that Jake had auditioned unsuccessfully for a role in Sam's earlier movie, American Beauty.


Rumours of superhero roles must be par for the course for young actors of a certain physique, because Jake's been followed by a trail of them: Spiderman rumours: 'It's kind of stupid to talk about because it's not my part, and it's Tobey's part. It's his and it always will be, and it came up when there were issues with his back and what was going on with that, and it was really flattering, but I'm really happy that he's playing the part.' Also there have been the Green Hornet, Superman and Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight.


Then there are the biopics - Jake is stil linked to football hero Joe Namath but his name has long been connected to the biopic of friend Lance Armstrong, a project now owned by Matt Damon.

But there are two roles in particular that Jake has been linked to which didn't come to pass. Firstly, there was a leading role in Bernardo Bertolucci's Dreamers, a role which, finally, went to Michael Pitt, but not before a lot of agonising on all sides. Susan Sarandon told Jake during their discussion for Interview magazine that he thought too much, to which Jake responded (in an Italian accent) that Bernardo had said much the same thing to him: 'You need to take a year off from thinking. Come have sex in my movie!' Jake went on to say that Bernardo 'has all these clauses about nudity', and, even though his parents would 'be really happy if I worked with Bertolucci. He's someone they've always respected', Jake decided against it.


Bertolucci had clearly wanted Jake for the role, having seen him in London on stage, just as Sam Mendes (Jarhead) had and just as John Madden (Proof) had: 'But then, in London, before I decided to do anything, I met Jake Gyllenhaal. I liked him very much. I saw him on stage and then it was clear that Jake would have been so tortured about showing his body. It became clear almost immediately after a few days. I know that he was one of those very meticulous actors who wants to know everything and wants explanation. Every time there was a scene that was sexy, I would see myself trying to explain [to him.] It was impossible. I don’t blame him because I would have reacted in the same way. I cannot be naked in front of a camera. So then, I thought about this kid in New York with big lips. I saw Michael Pitt in “Bully,” which was really good.'


This is what Eva Green had to say about Jake dropping out from the role: 'And then we did screen tests in London with Jake Gyllenhaal, based on the script, because he was going to play the Michael Pitt role. He had to drop out, because, I don’t know – his lawyers or his agent didn’t want him to get naked in movie. It was really bad for his ‘career’ because in America I think they’re very very puritan, and if you’re doing a scene with frontal nudity, then people will think that you’re a pornographic actor, or something. It’s really weird – I don’t really understand that… mind-set.'


Instead of Dreamers, Jake decided to do The Day After Tomorrow, to do a popular summer film that he would enjoy doing and people would go and see in their droves. And who can blame him for that? When promoting the blockbuster, Jake said: '"It felt like a different movie than I've ever done ... just in terms of scope and size," he said of the film, which he saw for the first time the day before this chat. "It blew me away," he said, a smile rising in his voice. "Not to toot my own horn or anything."'


Another role that was not to be for Jake was that of Christian in Moulin Rouge, but that in the end would be irrelevant because Jake and his rival for Moulin Rouge was Heath Ledger: 'We knew each other before we filmed this movie. We had both been on an extensive, really intense, audition process for Moulin Rouge with Baz Luhrmann. There was me and Heath and Ewan [McGregor] as the last three for that role. I feel like I was the puppy of all the three of them. I don't know what I was doing in there, but I was just amazed to be in there when we were auditioning. Heath and I started to know each other just by name, because I never saw his face—Baz never let us see each other. We'd be ushered into a room and locked in, and the other would go out and audition with someone and then ushered back in, so I heard him by name for a long time. When we were both not cast we become friends out of jealousy. From there we knew each other on and off, different times we'd see each other.'


The roles that Jake didn't take or didn't get offered have been outweighed in every sense by those he did, leaving Jake with his 'embarrassment of riches' at the end of 2005: 'But I've started to look at it this way: It's an embarrassment of riches. My birthday is right near Christmas. My mother is Jewish, so we celebrate Hanukkah. My father is Christian, so we also celebrate Christmas. All these things are celebrated at the same time and you get one present for everything, which is lame. On the other hand, it's always nice to get a present at all.'


We've heard Jake mention the inspiration of actors such as Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Sean Penn and Matt Damon, but in this same interview Jake mentions an inspiration that may have encouraged him in his latest role in Nailed: 'John Cleese is important to me. Seriously. My inspiration comes from odd places, I guess, different than the roles I play.'

Jake goes on to say: 'I was at a photo shoot the other day... and the guy told me, 'Oh, you should be in more mainstream work.' I was thinking, wait a minute: I don't want to float. I want to dive off the boat. I want to get in the water. I want the ability to swim deep or go shallow. The water is the mainstream but there are different depths. And definitely I don't want to float above it all.'


In this interview, Jake revealed that he was pleased not only about how he surprised himself with Jack Twist, but also by the achievement of Heath Ledger in the role of Ennis: 'Heath really delivered. I don't think people expect it. And I love actors surprising people.' As for himself: 'I tend to push and prod and move toward progression. I want to push people into telling the truth or saying the truth. Saying what they feel. That's just how I work and how I try to live.'


James Brolin and Kirstie Ally take the plunge

James Caan may have failed the cookie challenge as Speaker of the House but now it's the chance of James Brolin to choke and cough in the right order. Kirstie Ally 'in her first feature role since 2002, will play a veterinarian who fails to remove a nail from the head of her niece (Jessica Biel).' One has to wonder if a vet should be the first port of call when one has a nail stuck in the head, aunt or no aunt.


Includes pictures from IHJ.