Jake Gyllenhaal's first steps: 'Who wants to cast a kid from nowhere?'

We're spacebound tonight, travelling back in time, to take a look at Jake Gyllenhaal at the beginning of his adult career, when he overcame illness and parental concerns to win over the producers of October Sky. Jake's determination to win that role and achieve his dreams - and his modest surprise that he was able to do so - are told through his own words, from two early interviews, dating to 1998 and 1999. 'It's really incredible that people can have this much faith in me to do this.'


First, back to 1998: ' "To tell the truth, it's nothing like I expected," says Gyllenhaal. "Dreams when they become reality are nothing like the dreams."And for Gyllenhaal, working as an actor is definitely is his dream come true. "It's been my dream since I was really small -- since I could breathe," he says. "I've felt ever since I was young that this is my calling."'


Jake 'was signed by his parents' agency -- but only after agents witnessed his talent in a performance of "West Side Story" -- and he began doing auditions "every other day," stopping only when he got the lead in "The Rocket Boys" in January. Not surprisingly, Gyllenhaal's casting in the film has three acts: Act I: Next Please. Gyllenhaal misses out on the first round of auditions because he is sick. "I had mono," he says. "I was about to go in, and I threw up." Act II: Thank Your Lucky Stars. His agent calls him on Thanksgiving Day with news that he'll be allowed to audition when other actors go in for their callbacks. He does his reading for producers Charles Gordon and Larry Franco, director Joe Johnston and casting director Nancy Foy. "Somehow, Homer and I just clicked at that point," he says. "I'd been reading with my father, but I never got it until then." Act III: We'll Get Back to You. While Johnston wants him for the role, the studio doesn't. The solution, eventually, lies in screen tests a month later. "Who wants to cast a kid from nowhere?" says Gyllenhaal. "It was interesting going into meetings and talking with executives about why I wanted to do the part." (For the Brits, 'Mono' is like Glandular Fever.)


'"In my mind, I was saying, 'I have to do this,' " he says. One day in January, he walked into his house and found his father in the kitchen. "He said, 'Jake, I want you to go to college. I want you to have four years of college.' It was his roundabout way of telling me. Finally, he said, 'You got the part.' Two months of waiting ended there, but I had no idea what I was getting into." On the one hand, "It's the most incredible education -- life education -- I could have," he says. On the other, "It's lonely. All my friends that I've grown up with and gone to school six years with are on the other side of the country."'


'With tutors, costumers, makeup artists and other crew members constantly demanding his attention, "the only free time is lunch hour," says Gyllenhaal, who has used his day or two off per week visiting Cumberland Mountain State Park, Asheville, Rugby and even West Town Mall. Even though he'd grown up on film sets, he wasn't aware of how much work was involved in making a movie. He marvels at the skill his co-workers bring. "Everybody's doing their best," Gyllenhaal says. "I love that." He learned one aspect of filmmaking quickly. "The waiting part is what I do best and do the most," he chuckles'


Of the hoopla that can surround hot young actors: '"I've always been taught not to think too much of it," he says. "I've grown up around all of this. I'm only in it for the acting. Eventually, it's all that can keep you stable."'

'He credits his stage training and his theater teacher, Ted Walch, with grounding him. "You can just tell when an actor is from the theater or started in film," he says. "There's a sense of professionalism or maybe a little bit more responsibility. My analogy is, it's better to be a skier before you're a snowboarder. I know a lot of snowboarders who just rush down the hill. But if you've learned to ski first, you know the hill and the terrain and you respect it."'


'"There's something about the seasons that should come with a college experience," he says with a grin. "I've experienced that here. When I left Los Angeles it was summer; here it was snowing. It got me ready for the college experience." While he's playing a character, not himself, in "The Rocket Boys," he says there are similarities. "The passion that he had for making his rockets, I have for acting," Gyllenhaal says. "It's the unexplainable thing that gets you through the day, past whatever obstacles you encounter."'

And now to 1999: '"I think that there are experiences in your life -- and they're very short -- where you feel like something is going through you and that you have really no control," says Gyllenhaal. "I mean, sure, you're a vehicle, but you don't really have control. There've been times like that where I've been on the stage or I've been working with actors like Chris Cooper or Laura Dern or Debra Winger or Robin Williams or Billy Crystal, and you get that feeling -- whether it's for a split second or whether it's for a few seconds."


'"Being an actor, you tend to try and bring something of yourself into the character," says Gyllenhaal, who spent most of the second semester of his high-school senior year shooting "October Sky" in East Tennessee last year. "So to do service to the true story, I think you have to compare with the real guy."'

'In addition to coaching the young actor on "rocket lingo," Hickam "tried to explain and portray to me what was going on at certain times and why it went on, with his father especially, and sort of kept me in the groove when I felt like I was falling out of it sometimes," Gyllenhaal tells reporters gathered for an interview at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Los Angeles. Not only was Hickam a mentor to him on the set, he continues to be "an inspiration even in everyday life," says Gyllenhaal, who maintains a long-distance friendship with Huntsville, Ala.-based Hickam.'


And then there comes the strange experience of watching your film with your family and witnessing the suspended belief mixed with pride. '"It's so strange because they watch the movie, and it's as if it's actually me," he says. "Like, when the science fair is won, they hugged me. I couldn't actually connect. They could, obviously. But I couldn't make any connection between me and what they were experiencing."'


Articles (from The Knoxville News-Sentinel) from WDW Archives. Includes pictures from IHJ.