Jake Gyllenhaal out and about in LA and even more interviews with Jake and Duncan Jones on Source Code

Jake Gyllenhaal's certainly busy at the moment. When he's not giving more interviews for Source Code, he's looking around motorbike shops (can't say I blame him, I'm looking for a bike jacket myself at the moment) or going to launches of jeans in Bloomingdales, Santa Monica. As Jake is Jeans Man personified, it's not a surprise that he showed up to that one. Jake has also been spotted chatting with singer Jason Mraz. Below, Jake is pictured visiting the bike shop on Friday (25 March) and at the Hoyle Jackson launch party the previous Friday.


There are more interviews with Jake and Duncan Jones today. The interview we were promised with the Orlando Sentinel has now been published. You can read that there but here are a couple of snippets. '“It’s regret that always makes you — if you listen to it — choose not to do something that you [might] regret the next time around,” Gyllenhaal says. “The things that we regret and remember are the things that make us more present in our lives. That’s what life is all about, for me... It goes from ‘I’m using these eight minutes of someone else’s life to save thousands of people’ to ‘What would you do if you had eight minutes to live?’ That’s pretty deep for a thriller. That lifts this movie to a much higher plane, dealing with a much larger philosophical idea.” Gyllenhaal chuckles. “The irony is, regardless of past or future, if we looked at the world that way, we’d all be a lot more present.”'


'“Every choice I’ve ever made is probably informed by my interest in Eastern religions and philosophies,” he says of his college courses. “’Source Code’ explores a ton of different philosophical ideas, that there is no real linearity to life, that time and space are flexible — all things that aren’t just about science but that concern religion and philosophy, particularly Buddhism.”'

'“I enjoy being the eyes of the audience, because I am always thinking of the audience. With this character, I had the ability to think about all the things the audience might think about that. ‘Why doesn’t he try this? Why don’t I try that?’ And I could play against that... What would you change if you had the chance? Not much. Not in my life. I’ve been blessed,” Gyllenhaal says. “But what I learn from this movie is it’s not what you do, it’s how you respond. It’s not going out and never making a mistake. It’s how you respond afterwards. That determines who we are. The ultimate goal is to help others, not yourself.”'


From an interview with the National Post: '“I think my strength is to do a take all the way through,” the actor says. “I am definitely not someone who can do a sprint. Maybe I am not that smart, but it takes me a while to find the moment, and I like to be pushed toward it.” Indeed, Gyllenhaal maintains that Jones has a great deal in common with his Brokeback Mountain director, Ang Lee. “They both give clear directions. Ang would say, ‘Not sexy at all. Sexier.’ And Duncan would say things like, ‘OK, say it weirder.’” Casting seemed to work out, as well, especially with the selection of Monaghan, who has received acclaim for roles in North Country and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. “Michelle’s the audience eyes for this film, so it was important to relate to her,” Gyllenhaal says. She returns the compliment: “Jake’s so easy to act with, because he loves his job.”'


Boston.com has an interesting article about Duncan Jones and the film but it is a little spoilery. It does, however, feature this quote from Jake: ''Making a movie where you’re playing with time is a fun process,’ says Gyllenhaal, who’s had a chance to meditate on the genre a bit, between Source Code, Donnie Darko, and even Prince of Persia. Speaking by phone from Los Angeles, he continues, 'There’s not a moment where you can go on autopilot. And the audience experiences the same feeling. Time is an issue that inevitably creates tension, and in movies like this, you have the ability to create even more.''

There is also a particularly fascinating article over at the SF Gate, focusing especially on Duncan and Michelle Monaghan. This is a lot heavier on the spoilers so do be warned.


And finally...

With thanks to a friend, I've updated the Jake on the Box panel to include Jake's appearance on Good Morning America on 31 March.

Includes pictures from links and IHJ.

My review of The Eagle is now up at MovieBrit.

Jake Gyllenhaal 'a little bit Buddhist' (and sweaty). Interviews in Glamour and the Mail. And on his bike...

As if pictures of Jake Gyllenhaal out and about on his shiny Triumph yesterday (10 December) in Beverly Hills weren't enough to wet one's whistle (see below), we also have two new interviews with Jake. As the release of Love and Other Drugs here on 29 December gets ever nearer, the interviews recorded during the second week of November will at last be published. Jake appears in an interview with the Daily Mail online (it's not in the paper itself) today and he's also featured in the January issue of Glamour, which is now on the shelves (at least the mini version). Scans are included in this post - click on them and they shall be embiggened.


Movies are on Jake's mind: ''What's happened to the movies? All those Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy films about love? When I watch Rita Hayworth or Fred Astaire dance I think, why don't we have that any more?... So many films now are all about sex and love,' continues Jake Gyllenhaal, fixing me with his intense blue eyes. 'But you really don't see the two of them coming together. I want love and sex in movies to be different than it has been.'

''There's not a whole lot of actual sex in the film. There is a lot of us talking with our clothes off, beforehand or after, and I think that's more real. You don't have a sheet draped across Annie's chest, because people don't tend to do that, do you know what I mean?' He grins. 'It's uncomfortable when you're naked on set, but I do feel like an old hand at it at this point. I've done some pretty crazy things already. 'My parents taught me to feel comfortable about my body. They told me there's a beauty in whatever you are. Also I feel it's very important to portray love and sex in the right way.' He laughs. 'Besides, in our case, we'd already had faux movie sex in Brokeback Mountain. So we were relatively comfortable.''


''I used to go to the gym. I don't any more. I just like being active, breaking a sweat. If someone says, "Do you want to go and hike this mountain?", I'll just go and do it. I don't have children, so I can still be selfish and say, "I'm going to go and be on my bike for three hours." I ride mostly Trek bicycles - a Madone. I ride in Manhattan. You usually get where you're going faster, but I've gone to many a big meeting sweating, with people thinking I'm a creepy person.''


''Lance Armstrong saw me talking about bikes in a magazine, called me up and said, "You want to go for a ride?" And that was that - we rode. I took lots of caffeine and those energy packets and just went for it. I think I may have been sick the first ride I went on with him. I kept up with him, but I don't think Lance was pushing very hard. I rode L'Alpe d'Huez, which is one of the stages on the Tour de France, and that was a pretty intense climb, one of the best rides I've had in my life. And there's nothing more beautiful than riding through redwoods in Northern California, cutting in and out of thousand-year-old trees.'


'I definitely have an alpha-male aspect to me, because if I see someone up a long way ahead I always try to catch him; but mostly I just like the solitude. It's something my father instilled in me when I was a young boy. In the morning before school he would wake me up and we'd go on runs together. I still run - almost barefoot at the moment - just enjoying being physical, being active and being outside.'

Missing Heath: 'I do miss him...' Gyllenhaal stops mid-flow, looking emotional. 'There was an intimacy that we all shared on that film - I'd never experienced anything like it. It was just us by this river in Calgary for a month, in the middle of nowhere. There were no hotels to stay in, so we lived in trailers out there in the wilds. We would make coffee together in the morning, eat together and sometimes we'd ride horses to work. We were out there alone and all we had was each other.'


Growing up: 'We lived on the east side of LA between Koreatown (a poor ethnic neighbourhood) and Hancock Park (a fashionable area). Both my parents were very socially conscious. Growing up, my mother was always involved in charity work and she would get us involved in places like the homeless shelter... They were black sheep in their families. My mother's parents were doctors. My father came from a very small town in Pennsylvania. All either of them wanted to do was to write and make movies. Our home was like a circus with various people coming in and out. (Oscar-winning director) Steven Soderbergh lived in the room above our garage.'


'Gyllenhaal has particularly fond memories of Paul Newman. 'I was 14 when my mother got to know him as she was writing a screenplay for him. I knew him better from salad dressing, which is the great irony of different generations! My mum had a meeting with him and he said, "Come and meet me on the racetrack, and bring your son." We went and he put me in a race car that was all souped up, drove me onto the skid pan, spun the car around and taught me what not to do. It was extraordinary... I am a little bit Buddhist - in that I believe, in some way, that you choose your family. Convention was never something my family were interested in.''

Glamour interview

Jake is at his most flirtatiously delicious in the interview for Glamour.





Includes pictures from IHJ and scans by WDW.

** Emergency Post ** Jake Gyllenhaal gets on his bike

If Jake Gyllenhaal out on his Bonneville Triumph doesn't deserve an Empergency Post, I don't know what does. There are very few occasions when Jake's face is not a necessity for a photograph and this is definitely one of them. However, there is another part of Jake we shouldn't be seeing in these photos and that's his hands - gloves, Jake, please! These photos also explain the mysterious stain that we noted on Jake's then new shoes back at the beginning of June. It's now clear that the stain is that notorious oil leak stain that is associated with some British bikes. It also shows that Jake may have had the bike longer than we thought. [If there's a role going in Sherlock Holmes, I'm up for it.] Please note that I've turned the volume down on this Emergency Post due to squeeeing decibels. It is a breakfast Emergency Post after all.



Many thanks to IHJ for these gorgeous pics - there are more there.

If you're interested, I've written a review tonight of The Kids Are All Right at MovieBrit.

At last! Jake Gyllenhaal out on his motorbike! And it's a Triumph!

It's all too much...! As if the second Love and Other Drugs trailer wasn't enough, now we are treated to the highly anticipated and much longed for pictures of Jake Gyllenhaal out and about with his motorbike! And not only that, it's a bloody fantastic bike, a classic British bike, the Triumph Bonneville T100. And doesn't he look great on it?! As a Triumph rider myself (admittedly a lesser model but still with that earthy gritty roar that makes people stop and look), I am slightly over-excited by these pictures. Just a tad. Many many thanks to IHJ for these absolutely amzing photographs, which include father Stephen, which were taken at Cafe Midi in LA yesterday. I'd have to sit down if I wasn't already.


I'm reliably informed by Mr WDW that Jake should watch how he goes above 70mph on these bikes as bits start to fall off. If I look very carefully I'm sure that back seat has my name written on it.