Tonight Jake Gyllenhaal appears on the Jimmy Kimmel Show - does that mean the return of Yellow Banana one asks oneself. While we wait to see what is in store for us courtesy of Jimmy and Jake, we have some more interviews with Jake and Duncan Jones. But before that, we now know that the premiere for Source Code takes place on 28 March (7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard) and, if you have a bunch of dosh, you can be there too. It's all part of another Jake ACLU auction and more importantly it is donated by Jake himself. Details here. Thanks to BBMISwear for the heads up.
Admittedly, their last auction involving Jake was to join him and Doug Liman on the set of the Unnamed Moon Project back in the spring of 2010. Something that did not come to pass and something that is unlikely to either. The Hollywood Reporter revealed yesterday that UMP has reached another stage in its somewhat fractious path to a possible launch. Despite Jake's close association to the project in the past, as producer and star, it now looks as if Doug is trying to push the project forward yet again but now Jake is not attached. As we've mentioned here before, Jake's association with Duncan Jones may have given his link to UMP the kiss of death, but it has not been helped by switches in writers and plot plus the lack of studio support. One can't help but wish Doug all the best with this labour of the heart. I still think that Jake and Doug will work together at some point.
We have some more interviews with Jake and Duncan. First off, there's this from Making Of.
There is more behind the scenes footage at Kinogalereya. Thanks to Carlota and Eureka for the links! There is also this interview from Hitfix.
A WDW Cotswold Interlude
Today was the warmest day of the year so far - there wasn't a cloud in the sky and a sheltered spot it was positively balmy. I have a sunburnt face to prove it. And so, spontaneously, Mr WDW and I took off on the faithful Triumph for the Cotswolds and spent the day visiting some of the most beautiful old wool towns and fitted in a couple of Roman villas for good measure. We rode past one field and the sound of the bike disturbed a small herd of large deer, who leapt over wall upon wall - one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen in England. I tried to get a photo but just got the tailend.
Churches - the Painswick church is well known for its excessive topiary.
Villas - Chedworth is one of the most well-known Roman villas in the Cotswolds but is currently under scaffold as a new visitors' centre is built giving closer access to its famous mosaics. I rather liked the wrapping for the hypocaust.
The other villa, Great Witcombe Roman Villa, had no such disturbance. Just a spectacular backdrop across the most stunning countryside.
This post comes with a warning - this is the River Nile of all posts - it is so long that I do not advise that you tackle it without sugary snacks and/or liquid refreshment. I am going to start with a fine example of GyllenSpeak, something that we have been relatively short of lately despite all of the Love and Other Drugs publicity. Here is Jake Gyllenhaal in USA Weekend talking about how he'd like to commemorate his 30th birthday: 'I'd love to go swimming with the walruses and the whales in the freezing cold water... Seems like it could be a rite of passage.'
But... before we get on with the rest of this interview, here are the scans for EW, with enormous thanks to BBMISwear! What a fantastic interview. Click on them and they shall be embiggened.
And now back to the wonderful USA Weekend interview, conducted in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, with Jake arriving and leaving on a bike (and with his big beard). It includes a description of Jake by Anne Hathaway: '"His humor has the ability to repulse and charm simultaneously," says the actress, adding: "For a young male celebrity who's one of the most beautiful men on the planet, no caveats, he's super-duper grounded. He's a terrible texter, though. Awful."'
Jake talks about families, Ramona, love and concludes in admirable Gyllenhaal fashion: "People find their way toward loving like water. Sometimes two rocks are set up in the wrong way and the water has to part and go, and I've seen that happen recently. As my family's broken apart into different pieces, I can also see that there's more love as a result." Then, breaking from the serious mood, he jokes, "We should have been in the Japanese Garden for this conversation!" Before hopping back on his bike, he ponders his life one more time, and he realizes how good it is for him right now, despite the heartbreaks. "It's Wednesday, the middle of the day, we're sitting in the botanical gardens, I rode up here on my bike. Life ain't so bad."'
There is another extract from what I believe to be the same interview here. In this, Jake discusses all the generations of his family and what he's learnt about acting.
Q: 'You’re almost 20 years into your career at this point. Most people who start their careers at 21, they reach that point after they’re 40. Do you feel like you’re on the path you’ve always wanted to be on?
JG: With this movie I do. I finished the script and I was like, “I want this, I want to do this, I’m going to do whatever I have to get this.” And if I didn’t get it, I would have been brokenhearted. In a strange way, when you say that, it’s funny because this really does feel like the beginning. There are definitely things I regret – not even talking about career, just because I’ve been working professionally for so long, there are those things. But there are things that are extraordinary that I’ve experienced, people I’ve worked with. I’m starting to shred so much insecurity and all that stuff. Maybe it’s just turning 30 and maybe it’s just the time I am in my life. It’s a hard question. Unfortunately, it’s hard for me not to be really thoughtful about things. People ask me what my favorite color is and it takes me like 15 minutes. [Laughs] It’s really unfortunate. So when you ask me that, I could wax on poetic for a long time about it.
Q: What kind of mindset did you have during the October Sky and Bubble Boy years when you were around 19, 20? Did you have a career path, or were you thinking, “This is fun, but maybe I’ll do something else after a while.”
JG: For me, it was like, yeah, this is fun, I can’t believe I’m doing this. And opportunities came from it and it was like, how could I not take these opportunities? They were amazing. I love acting. There is more that I want to do, yeah. I love making movies. I think movies are incredible and I was just thinking about this the other day: We’re all just storytellers. I just wasn’t aware of that when I was a lot younger. I didn’t realize how much I loved telling stories, the puzzles of it, the mistakes that come up, these incredible epiphanies you have when you’re doing it. A part of me didn’t totally know what I was getting into.
***INTERMISSION ***
Time out for tea and cake and a few stretching exercises
Q: Sometimes naivete is a good thing.
JG: Yeah, but it’s not until right now. Maybe I wasn’t so clear about which street to take, but I think I’m in the right area. And now I know I want to be more adventurous. And it’s not just choosing different types of roles. A lot of people have said to me in the past, “You’ve chosen very risky things. You’ve been very courageous in the roles you’ve chosen.” Ultimately, courage isn’t really a word that should be synonymous with acting I don’t think. There are other things in my life where I’d really like to test that courage.
Q:Like what?
JG: Just on a creative level, I would love to be making movies – I would love to be directing movies, be involved with the process of producing and writing and directing movies. That’s what I witnessed when I grew up, and I believe that’s really difficult. You gotta see what skin fits you. I’ve had a great amount of success with acting, and I hopefully will continue to. But it fits into the storyteller thing. My niece will ask for a story, and I’ll make up a story for her. I’ll realize three-quarters of the time how horrible the stories I’ve told are. They’re just bad stories. Badly told, bad structure, no real resolution. [Laughs]
Q: But does she know that?
JG: Yeah, she knows when it’s good. [Laughs] She always wants it again when it’s good. We’re no different than a 4-year-old: When it’s good, we want to see it again. When it’s not, we’re like, “Meh. OK, good try.”
Q: Most people think about settling down, having kids, that sort of thing when they turn 30. How do you feel?
JG: When you’re in your 20s, you’re feeling your way. But you know what, I meet some 20 year olds and I think they’re highly intelligent and wise, and I’ve met 70-year-olds who are not as wise as them. So I don’t really know. [Laughs] I feel really excited about it. I don’t feel pressure. I think I felt more pressure when I was younger. I feel approaching 30 has given me the permission to feel freer than I ever have. So that need to do whatever the convention tells you to, I feel I’ve cast it off more. I know people say, “OK, now’s the time to do this, now’s the time for that, to get married and have kids.” I certainly want a family of my own, but just because I’m turning 30 doesn’t mean I’m going to do it. Particularly when I talk to my 95-year-old aunt. She’s aware and awake and alive. I do feel that time, but it just makes me love my family and want to be with my family more and spend time with the children I know.
Q: You mentioned Spencer Tracy before, and you have joined the likes of him in the annals of Hollywood’s leading men.
JG: Yeah. Me and Spencer Tracy. “Listen, sweetheart…” If only I had a hat, it would be perfect. [Laughs]
Q:Do you like being a part of that history?
JG: There have been a lot of people besides Spencer Tracy that have been a part of that history. Good and bad. Yeah, I do feel honored to be a part of that. You look at those movies between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, you look at certain scenes, and they could be today. You could be watching it and just flip it to black and white. There’s something about them that’s absolutely extraordinary. To be a part of making movies, if I’m going to steal my way into that somehow and say I’m a part of that, it’s great. It might be the Dark Ages for that history, but I’m still a part of the history! [Laughs]
There is also an interview in the LA Times. It's a goodie. And it harks back to Brokeback and that car scene... 'ake had touched me everywhere except my boob," says Hathaway, patting her chest as the pair sits together to discuss their new film, the upcoming romantic dramedy "Love & Other Drugs," which opens in theaters Wednesday. "We did it very methodically: I would cover, they'd bring me a towel, I'd get out of the car, go behind a screen and get redressed. All of a sudden I hear a throat clear from behind the screen. It's Jake. 'Ah, Annie, so the thing is, in this scene, if it was really you and me in the car, I just think that, you know, ah, can I touch your boob?'" "And ... I don't think you asked me this time," says Hathaway, turning to her screen partner to tease him about his behavior during the many love scenes they shot for their new project and laughing uproariously. "I already asked. Your offer was still good," Gyllenhaal says with a shrug.'
On the LAOD nudity: "We wanted to push it," Gyllenhaal says. "One of those avenues was when the sheets come off, you don't cover your breast, you don't cover a part of your body after you've slept with someone you're falling in love with five or six times."
Interestingly, jake talks about the change from Prince of Persia: '"I was desperate for character interaction, for scenes that were intimate, where I could spend a lot of time talking," Gyllenhaal says. "I loved the action and jumping around, but I get a different kind of action in this one." You can read the rest here. There is also an interview with Anne here.
Here is an interview Jake and Anne did with MTV. You can read more about it here.
As for what's going on in the here and now-ish, Jake was out last night at the 25th Anniversary Gala for Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA) with another co-star, Natalie Portman, and a singer that Jake has raved about, Florence (and the Machines). There are pictures from the event scattered through the post.
And finally
Unnamed Moon Project Update! And I quote: 'Meanwhile, the director Doug Liman (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) has long been working on his own movie about lunar colonization. Although the project has been in development for several years, Liman said recently he’d still like to make it, and one person familiar with the film said that line producers had just been hired, suggesting that a launch may not be far off.' That doesn't sound like much, but I'm grabbing it.
Sources for pictures include 3am, links, IHJ and many thanks to BBMISwear!
If you're a card-carrying member of the I Love SciFi club like me and have a huge need in life to see Jake Gyllenhaal in Space, then there is a hint of some good news today. Although, rather ironically as it happens, there have been fears that Doug Liman's Unnamed Moon Project may have been scuppered by Duncan Jones' Moon, which in turn led to Jake's forthcoming movie Source Code, which in itself may have caused some serious damage to the chances of UMP taking off, perhaps the stars may align favourably after all.
When Doug Liman was interviewed by Coming Soon for his new film Fair Game, Doug revealed that All You Need is Kill is just one of two movies that he is currently working on, with either one due to happen next. The other one is the Unnamed Moon Project: 'both of them are in budgeting and both have small, early crews on them'.
After all the effort that Doug has put into his Moon Project over the years, with Jake as a producer, as he has revealed to his Ninja blog, it is great news to hear that it may still be on the way to the launchpad and not the scrapheap. And if it does make it, we can be assured Doug will tell us all about it.
And finally...
Today marked the beginning of National Novel Writing Month - NaNoWriMo. Rather alarmingly I have signed up for the task of writing 60,000 words in 30 days. So if you see any plot bunnies out there, think of me... I will chart my progress on the front page.
Jake Gyllenhaal's fitness regime for Prince of Persia is well-known, involving as it does an awful amount of running, a horrendous number of pushups and way too many jacket potatoes with tuna. If you want to get fit and lithe but you can't function on two squares of dark chocolate a day, then there is an alternative Prince of Persia diet. You simply watch it. A reporter for the Independent discovered that by watching Prince of Persia you can work off 0.9 calories a minute. Admittedly, this is not a huge amount of calories and also the article doesn't state if scoffing a big pot of Ben and Jerry's through the film impacts on this amount of calories. I'd argue not.
Therefore, I can enjoy the pictures of Jake going about his workouts whilst smiling to myself and wondering when Jake will realise that he could keep in shape just by looking at himself on the big screen. I do realise that I have to watch a huge amount of Jake in order for the Jaking Health Regime to be effective. It's tough but I can do it.
Doug Liman is a director who has interested me for a long time, not only because of the long association of Jake with Doug's Unnamed Moon Project (UMP), latterly known as Argonauts, but also because he blogs as he directs. It's been interesting watching the development of UMP from Doug's point of view (all courtesy of the 30Ninjas website) - the desire to get the special effects just so, the importance of allowing Jake's character to develop as Jake would wish and the efforts to get a studio onboard. I wrote more about this at MB.
However, at the turn of the year, the time when Doug said that shooting for Argonauts would kick off, all went quiet. Instead, Doug has been associated with other projects, such as another Musketeers movie and All You Need is Kill, while publicising Fair Game at Cannes. This film stars Naomi Watts, Sean Penn and Brothers' own Sam Shephard. So, what has happened to UMP?
The Playlist, always good reading, today posted an article about Doug Liman, and it raises the very interesting point that maybe the Unnamed Moon Project has been killed by the definitely named Moon. Although UMP has a very different plot and scenario, dramatising a race to colonise the moon, perhaps Duncan Jones' triumph Moon has filled that niche for studios. And just as Knight and Day has possibly been damaged at the box office by comparison with Mr and Mrs Smith and Killers, maybe Doug has taken the hint from studios and has moved on.
Doug's blogs are testament to the amount of work that he - and Jake - has put into creating a project that studios would wish to invest in. A difficulty for Doug was making shots of the Moon believable - to such an extent it even sounded like he was actually prepared to go there! Duncan Jones took the other tack and instead managed to visualise the moon for us on a comparatively tiny budget.
The critical success of Moon, winning Duncan Jones a BAFTA, led to Duncan's first role as Hollywood director, at the helm of the highly anticipated Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. Jake can't stop talking about how Duncan is the next great director of his generation and how the scifi Source Code will blow our minds.
One can't help but think that however much many of us, including myself, had longed for UMP, not least because Jake would have an active role in the development of both his character and the project as producer, the path to its demise paved the way for Source Code. But, nothing is ever certain in Hollywood and I still hope that we may get both and may still get to enjoy Jake in Space.
I'm working myself up to this post - done a run round the block, eaten a banana, drunk a Power Drink - almost there. So before we start, I suggest you eat something sugary and maybe do a few laps of your local pool. Flex those GyllenMuscles because there's so much going on, this post may take me until the premiere of Source Code to finish. However, without any more - or too much - ado, I will proceed. First off, can I just say, how great it is to see Jake in London! We love to see you here, Jake! (sorry about the weather and the cost of cabs...)
At the risk of being accused of going off at a tangent before I even start, I just want to draw attention to PoPSugar posting that Jake Gyllenhaal had a pub lunch in London today. Whether this is true or not, reading the words Jake and Pub in the same sentence makes me feel as toasty as an old English inn on a winter's evening with a fire roaring and real ale flowing freely through the pumps, to be served in pint glasses with handles, while everything I eat is served with pickle or custard. I must say that if I do go off on a tangent, it's not my fault. It's the pushmepullyou of being a Jake fan.
So, while fearing that this post may need updating before it's even finished, here is a bit of what we got today.
We've had featurettes and we've had trailers, but today we got not one but two real, proper, unclipped clips from Prince of Persia. The first one puts us right in the middle of a chase scene in which Jake shows us just why he was so well cast for this role - agile, fit, dextrous and nimble. And that's just for starters. Whoever said that walls and chasms are barriers? Not a bit of it.
In the second, we have a tent scene, in which Dastan and his brothers discuss the battle ahead (with Dastan clearly at odds) - We attack at Dawn. Thanks to Sweetpea for the heads up.
The Ninjas are back! Today we have part two of their interview with Jake and it is full of goodies, not least some info on the film that I am so keen to see made - that film with the most memorable of titles, UMP (that's Unnamed Moon Project to those who don't know). Here are some snippets, surrounded by some wonderful pictures of Jake from last night and today around our fair city of London, courtesy of IHJ. Love that jacket!
Jake talks about the mistakes that made it into the movie - acting on the edge like this, with stunts just a step or inch away from dangerous reality: 'I remember this one scene where I got pulled from first unit to second unit really, really quickly, and we had this big fight scene with Toby Kebbell, who plays my brother in the movie. We had it choreographed, and he had worked on it a lot, but I had had very little time to work on it. But my character was sort of, you know, up against the wall at that point. And so I was literally just defending myself from his entire choreographed fight. I would remember it piece by piece kind of, but not really the whole thing, and the whole thing has the feeling of me going like, “Holy Shit!” The whole thing is me just being like, “Got it! Made that! OK, back over here, OK, we’re here, holy fuck! Wow, I punched him! Wow! Okay!” You know? It’s all real. There was one moment, too, where my stunt guy — I had practiced with him a lot of the time, and then I come in and when I was doing it there’s one wipe across my face where I’m supposed to duck, and he has an ax, and the ax comes at my face –'
'JULINA: Oh my God! JAKE: – and, like, literally with two hand-held cameras, [second Unit Director]Alexander Witt got the best angle: With nothing enhanced in it, you see he actually almost cut my face off. It’s great.' I need to have a brandy and regain my composure...
If anyone were ever to ask me why it is that I have followed Jake Gyllenhaal for years, I could give them 1000 answers. And one of them would be this paragraph from Jake encased in gold with diamond knobbly bits on it. 'It all feels like that, and I was game for that, and that’s what’s fun. [Laughs] I think I even remember, we did the big wide shot of it, and by the end I had made so many mistakes every time I would do it that I would just, I just ended up laughing at the end. You know, it was ridiculous, but all those things had that feeling. I would get to set and they would be like, “Okay, so, um, follow me up to the top of this building,” and I’d be like, “What are we doing?” and they’re like, “You’re jumping off of it!” and I’d be like, “What?” [Laughs] So then I had to [jump]. And then here come the guys on the opposite side, and I’m — this is the second time I’ve tried this jump, and I’m just gonna do it. And that’s the feeling of the movie. It’s not, “I know exactly what I’m doing all the time.” Not at all. Not in any way. And I think that’s why it’s superfun. I took a photograph of myself after I did my first huge jump. Because I didn’t know on that day that we were gonna do the jump, and I was ecstatic that I had done it, and I was like, “I got it, I got it.” I just took my phone and took a picture of just, like, this massive smile on my face.'
And, at last, we hear something about UMP, the project that we've been listening out for - is it decades? And with it, Jake talks about when he likes his commitment to a project to begin. For anyone who's been interested in how Jake is motivated as a career, this is fascinating stuff: 'I think, ideally, I do like to be with the material for a long time. And I liken it to rehearsing fight choreography or trying to figure out an accent. I’m definitely not an actor that picks it up immediately and can roll with it. I need to go over it over and over and over again, and that’s something I’ve learned [about myself] over time. I like to be there for a few drafts before it becomes the final shooting version because, particularly if you’re in a majority of the scenes of the movie, you’re part of the steering of the ship, so you just need to know that ship really well and where it’s going. I get off on that too — that’s what I enjoy. That’s why it’s been fun working with Doug, and with Simon [Kinberg] on [the Untitled Moon Project] developing this movie together, because they’re really collaborative and we’ve been through different versions discussing things all the time, and all of that discussion goes into whatever the final version is. Even if the scenes you’ve discussed for years don’t end up in the final version of the movie, somehow they’re there, you know? So I like to be a part of it, and I also think it’s really bonding to be doing that with all the filmmakers. You’re with your director and you’re with your writers — you’re listening to how they work, and how they change things, and what makes them nervous, and how you can make them feel comfortable, on the day. You know, with some directors — most directors — I like to know what they have to have the day before [we shoot a given scene], so that they can start their day. I like to know how you can give them what they want.'
When it comes to PoP, you sense that Jake had a helluva lot of fun making this movie and his feeling for it is so hard to resist, it's catching. 'One of my favorite things in the movie was when we were shooting a lot of rooftop chase sequences between the real rooftops in Morocco, in different casbahs [North African fortresses] and on stages in London, and there was this sequence where I did a jump, without any wires, on stage. I had four or five different guards chasing after me, and one of the guards was supposed to miss — jump just short — and I was supposed to make it and the other three or four guards were supposed to make it. So I jumped and I made it. Everyone was freaked out that I had no wires on, and I had way too much fun. Then the guy who was following me jumped, and he hit his face on the casbah and his hat flew off and went flying 30 feet in the air. He hurt his jaw, but it’s in the movie, and it looks amazing! He’s OK — he’s actually fine, but it looks really not fun when you see it. Those types of things happen, and you flirt with that type of danger, and there are times when — particularly jumping all those big jumps — in order to make it look really cool, it has to be a little bit dangerous.'
The two swords across the back were the Prince's weapons of choice but 'There were a couple of missed opportunities with that, where I was supposed to coolly pull them out of my back and I couldn’t reach them. I’m like, “I’m gonna kick your ass … in one second … when I can grab both of these … give me another second … hold on one more second …” [laughs]. But that was it, just two swords. That’s my style — and I can run away from anybody.'
And finally
You don't need me to tell you that I have accidentally or intentionally bought every bit of PoP merchandise going. We didn't have this for Zodiac....(that's my excuse). Today, my Beneath the Sands book arrived and, in addition to all sorts of surprises in its pages, there was a sting in the tail. Fortunately I had my Ostrich Dastan and my Aksh (bless you) Dastan to help me out. For anyone (ie Mr WDW) who can't tell, this is a snake!
Pictures courtesy of IHJ plus a particularly spectacular one from WDW.
I knew this post would be updated! And so it is. Jake is recording the Jonathan Ross show this evening and we have our first glance of the green room, with Adam Lambert. Thanks Rubes!
[Update] We know Jake Gyllenhaal is back in London, getting reacquainted with his old restaurants, shops and jogging spots of choice, but it's very good to see his arrival in pictures at Heathrow on 1 May. And Jake arrives complete with his and our favourite bodyguard, his own Virgin stewardess, an extremely large trunk and what looks like a new ring. Last time Jake travelled over for the Jonathan Ross show with a big trunk, the suit disappointed. I'm wondering what we'll see this week... Many thanks to IHJ for the lovely pics!
We're used to Doug Liman talking to the wise Ninjas - today they turn their attention to Jake Gyllenhaal. In a great interview with Jake, recorded by phone on the day that Source Code wrapped, the Ninjas keep their filmmaking focus, asking Jake, amongst other things, to compare what it was like working with two much-admired British directors, Mike Newell and Duncan Jones. You can read the whole interview at the Ninjas, and there is promise of more to come, but here are a couple of snippets.
'Every director than I have had the pleasure to work with has been so different in their style. So Mike Newell, just physically … they both happen to be British, but Duncan spent a lot of time growing up in the States and all over the world so he has a different sort of sensibility than Mike. Well, Mike is like six foot five, and Duncan is like five ten or something, so [laughs] that is one major difference. And in a way, their sizes mimic their styles, because Mike is very robust and dramatic in his approach and he’s like (in a gruff British voice), “Oh yes, my dear boy, it’s fantastic,” and there’s always this sort of energy to it.'
'Duncan really creates this space that is much more quiet, and I would say that there is a serenity to the way he directs, and to me it’s fascinating that the two of them could not be more different. That’s actually a really good question. They had two different beasts [to direct], you know? Mike had a movie where there are just so many elements that he had to balance, and I learned from him a really important lesson that every actor should know; he said, “You know what I look at more than the monitor?,” and I said “No, what Mike?” And he pointed to his watch. When I asked ”Really?,” he said, “You never get all the things you want as a director, and you’re always chasing time.” Any actor who is in sync with their director knows you want to try to give your director everything that they want within the day. And that’s something that I really learned with Mike. It is something that I don’t think that actors really know: how much a director is dealing with. So when I went to work with Duncan I brought that mentality with me, and it was like, “What do we need? Did we get that? OK, what do you need from me? Let’s go.”'
On testing out ideas on set: 'Yeah, you know, a majority of them have to suck for some of them to be good. I think with Duncan it was all that, all of the time, and it’s surprising because with someone who’s doing [only] his second movie, you would think that he would be holding more tightly on to the reins, but he has a surprising sense of self-confidence and sense of self. JULINA: Moon,Jones’s movie, was so tight, and so precise. JAKE: Right, I know.'
'JULINA: Sam Rockwell’s just so relaxed through the whole thing, but you’re going, “Oh my God!” and you go with it, because he’s going with it. It’s really impressive. It’s one of my favorite films, actually. JAKE: Me too. I mean, that’s Sam, because he’s so talented. But you have to create the environment, I think. I think [Duncan Jones] created the environment for it — and now, I’m his second, so you know, I can say — he is so collaborative. He’s a really special director. I believe that he’s like the next generation, you know? I’d put my money on him. [Laughs] He definitely protected his actors from all the stuff going on behind the scenes with the politics of making movies, which is so important because once you get into that sensitive space working with an actor, bringing that in can screw things up. It’s amazing to me that it’s his second movie, ’cause he’s just on point.'
Lightheaded moment: Jake mentions the Princess Bride, one of my favourite films! Unfortunately, apart from a passing reference to the Unnamed Moon project (UMP or Argonauts as Doug called it last), there was no news on the progress of that one. Be sure to read the full interview.
