UPDATE: And here is the final segment from ET - thank you Stephanie and IHJ!
It's tonight! Unless another general election is called in the US at short notice and scuppers the TV schedules again, Entertainment Tonight will feature its Prince of Persia preview tonight!
And huge thanks are owed to Stephanie at IHJ (who will no longer be chained to ET each evening), for posting the Preview Preview so that we can all join in the thrill of our first proper look at Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince. Just look at him!
UPDATE: Here is a longer segment of the ET preview of Prince ('My friends call me Jake') of Persia. Whether this is the full feature or not, we'll soon find out. Judging by the printed extract on Etonline, there could be more. Just as well, as I need to hear more of that accent before I'm convinced - but Jake looks amazing!
And it's great to see shots of Jake with the feisty Gemma Arterton.
Alarming news from the Prince of Persia set today - I'm afraid to say that its Emperor Scorpions are on the loose. According to a comment from a lucky (or should that now be unlucky?) person who works at Pinewood, the cunning and not hugely attractive Emperor Scorpions have escaped and are believed to be out hunting in packs. I first read the comment as saying that Emperor Penguins had escaped, which did surprise me to be honest. I also thought they'd be quite easy to spot. But a flock of rampaging, hungry Emperor Scorpions that can open doors, that's another matter entirely.
UPDATE: The Daily Mail has just reported that shooting was held up while a plucky studio member of staff cornered an offending scorpion with a bucket... 'A lethal scorpion brought panic to the set of a multi-million pound Disney epic after it was found scurrying across a studio floor.' I do hope Mike Newell has counted his scorpions...
We all remember Jake's terrifying toad encounter from filming Rendition in Morocco - I would have hoped he would have been spared another such animal experience (and I'm horrified that this should happen in Buckinghamshire of all places, a county normally considered relatively free of perilous beasts), but I am counting on Disney to protect its leading man from his multi-legged and low-to-the-ground co-stars.
There is clearly something to be said for CGI scorpions and Jake has considerable experience of working alongside animals that are not really there, including scorpions. This is good because it allows us to focus on what really matters in a scene that features Jake Gyllenhaal and a little stinger without worrying about Jake coming a cropper.
In my concern for Jake, and for his fellow cast and crew (not to mention that I live 40 minutes from Pinewood and a creature with that many legs is bound to be speedy), I have been doing some research. The scorpions travel in groups, preferably by night, and can be tempted by anything from a mealworm to a lizard. They can make good pets, but have a tendency towards obesity - although, in my book, the best scorpion is a full scorpion. They are also considered a delicacy in parts of Africa. Therefore, Jake may relish the opportunity to cook with another fresh ingredient that is conveniently to hand.
Until the scorpions have been rustled up, one can only advise Jake to shake his boots. Perhaps Disney would have been better off with Emperor Penguins...
Following the good news that Jessica Biel has been in the studio doing the voiceover for Nailed - a sure sign, one would have thought, that Nailed will have an end and that end will be on the big screen - there have been some more references to the project. And, while Nailed has clearly been troubled for its actors, one gets the feeling that its stars feel nothing but affection and loyalty for it. For instance, Jessica Biel was in the Independent last week, to publicise her new Noel Coward movie Easy Virtue and this is what it said:
Jessica 'is involved in Nailed, the new film from David O Russell. Biel plays a waitress who becomes unhinged after she gets a nail lodged in her head. The shoot was suspended just three days away from completion when financing fell through. The movie is still incomplete, and it's left Biel in limbo. "I will stop my schedule to finish it, no matter what I'm doing," she says, "But it's been a really bizarre experience." Still, her recent roles have convinced her she's on the right path. "It's hard to find roles like Easy Virtue or Nailed," she says. "Complicated, interesting stories and interesting women... the bar has been set so high, I feel spoilt. It's the best..."'
Jessica's Nailed co-star Tracy Morgan has also been talking about Nailed, as part of a rather colourful interview for tattoo magazine Inked. Here is an excerpt: 'You’re working on the movie Nailed with Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel. It had a pretty rough shoot. There were reports it was shut down. "Yeah, it was one of those things, man. Unprecedented. The movie was shut down seven times. But it was incredible." Director David O. Russell has a rep for being … difficult. "Yeah, well, he has his process. I love him. He was cool with me."' The rest is bleeped out...
Talking of Jessica Biel, she was one of the stars in attendance at the gala celebration of director Baz Luhrmann at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Also there were Peter and Maggie and, although almost always I've enjoyed Maggie's independent spirit with her fashion, I can't say I'm happy at all with the choice of outfit on this occasion, and this goes beyond fashion. Real or not, vintage or not, this is certainly intended to look real and it also looks 'designed to shock'. Maggie is heavily involved with many good causes and so, to me, this seems more incongruous than ever.
Brokeback Opera shelved and a Jack Twist
Remember the Brokeback Mountain opera, scheduled to open on Broadway? It's become the victim of the 'credit crunch' and has been shelved. An opera based on the life of Walt Disney has also had its resources removed.
However, there is some good news - the Jack Twist cocktail has been developed, which, not surprisingly features a shot (or two) of Jack and a twist of lemon. If you add advocaat, you get a Jack Nasty. How much do I love this picture below...?
I'm sure I'm not alone in missing Jake Gyllenhaal as he continues to earn a wage on the Pinewood set, but now and again we get a little peek. Last weekend, we were given mental images of Jake lost in Harrods and less lost in Harvey Nicks - this weekend, one sighting puts Jake in a cafe with Renee Zellweger. Perhaps Jake was receiving a lesson on how to perfect that English accent from Bridget Jones herself.
Meanwhile, Jake's dastardly co-star Ben Kingsley has been interviewed (in Swedish)about his roles. And, in the interview he says that his theatrical training has stood him in good stead for his Prince of Persia fights. This is because, I think, of all the rehearsals and practising they're being put through. Fortunately, Ben says he likes playing the baddie - just as well. I've come to the realisation that the Prince of Persia is going to be full of fights, and most of them with Jake in the thick of it - and, hopefully, some of them will take place in water... And mud?
Earlier this year, Jake was doing his bit to promote eyecare. Now, it's Maggie's turn. Maggie has joined Diane Kruger (she who encouraged Jake to sing Night Fever on the Cannes Croisette), Mischa Barton and Billy Idol (who once kissed me on the cheek...) in being photographed by Bryan Adams as ambassadors for the Hear the World awareness campaign. Speaking as someone with poor eyesight and a dud right ear, I am pleased to say that the Gyllenhaals will soon have all my senses covered.
Thanks to IHJ for giving us some new old photographs to enjoy during the drought. Three pictures in particular caught my eye. The first, from 2001, displays extraordinary and tempting hair.
The second two feature Atticus and Jake's serious efforts to 'Train the Dog' - although Atti's attitude towards little white dogs continues to provide Jake with opportunities to charm.
We have regularly considered here ways to attract Jake's attention in a street situation - a solution may be to take possession of a little white dog and chuck it at Atti.
Yesterday (Friday), Jessica Biel was photographed arriving at the Wildfire post-production studios in LA, where she is doing voiceover work for Nailed. Now this has to be good news and an indication that perhaps this film is at last receiving its finishing touches. At least, Nailed is in a fit enough state for there to be a voiceover, and that's got to be good. I also like Jessica's jumper - after yesterday's post, I think Jake would like it too.
Voiceovers are not to be sniffed at. They take skill and can play a huge role in setting the mood and tone of a film, not to mention shifting the plot and characterisation along and creating a relationship between the speaker and his listeners. While Jake Gyllenhaal is at an advantage when it comes to voiceovers - just listen to that voice of his - he still has admitted to finding them tricky and his most perfect voiceover, for Jarhead, didn't start off that way and nearly lost Jake the much-wanted role.
In DVD Review, both Sam Mendes and Jake discussed with some honesty how Jake messed up the voiceover for his audition, so much so that, even though Jake was Sam's first choice, Sam turned to look at other actors, leaving Jake to phone him in the middle of the night, fighting to get another chance. Sam said: 'Jake didn't nail the audition. He was very much who I wanted straight away but when he came in he didn't audition well.. When he started reading I thought 'Who is Swofford and who is this guy?' The problem with writing a movie based on a book that's a first-person narrative is that, often, the least clear thing about the book is the person writing it.'
According to Jake, 'I had a really hard time with the narration and it was almost the thing that didn't get me the part. When I came in and read for Sam, he made me read the voiceover. It was really literary and I really thought that I fucked up... and I did fuck it up!... He turned and said to me, 'You didn't seal the deal, I have to tell you!' That's his way of saying that I had just fucked it up. I had a hard time with that.' To get over this, Jake was given Swofford's original journal: 'It was a little green book... and it had on it a song lyric which was so cheesy and young, and kind of sweet in alot of ways.. Then when you open it up it's about how many girls he wants to fuck and how many people he's going to fucking kill and blah-blah-bah, he's on watch and it sucks and this guy sucks and they kicked our asses today - not the same perspective that the book was in. And I just thought, 'That's who I'm playing, not the guy who wrote the book!'
Sam came back round to wanting Jake, 'When I first saw him at the initial audition, I thought, 'Maybe Swofford isn't this, maybe he's something else. maybe he's much more hardcore, more silent and private and inaccessible.' So I met with a lot of other actors and I read the part with them all to try and see what kind of a person Tony was. Every week there'd be a new draft and then, eventually, I came full circle to Jake. It took me a while to realise what I wanted.'
Jake also told Entertainment Weekly about his first audition in Sam's New York apartment: 'It was really, really literary and hard to get your mouth around... I couldn't connect. I thought I'd f---ed it up' and while Jake was filming Brokeback Mountain he was troubled at the thought of Sam auditioning other actors.
This is a far cry from the time when the very young Jake was being put through his action hero paces on the set of The Day After Tomorrow. Back in June 2004, producer Mark Gordon and director Roland Emmerich told SFX magazine, with not a little humour, how they set about making their vision a reality, complete with CGI and wet actors. As Roland says: 'If you make a film that has amazing images, you can still bore people to death.' Obviously they avoided this straightaway by hiring Jake Gyllenhaal.
It was all new for Jake as Roland describes: 'As he'd only done small, independent movies he was really excited to come and do a movie like this... It was an opportunity for him to be really physical. The toughest scene for him was the one in the water tank. Water is always tricky. If you're standing hip-deep in the stuff and you have to do the same scene over and over again, and on top of this it's raining on you, and there are wind machines blowing in your face... well, it's not very attractive. We tried to make it as pleasant as possible for him.'
''We gave them umbrellas occasionally,' deadpans Gordon.'
I was amused to read here that the 'rapscallions behind South Park had received a leaked copy of The Day After Tomorrow screenplay, and had plotted to make their own, alternative version, filmed in absolute secrecy and then released on the same day as the bona fide original. A version made with puppets. 'They're not doing that', says Emmerich, with the air of a man who never once found this idea even remotely amusing.' They called Rupert Murdoch: 'And when Rupert wants to take care of business, he takes care of business, and he took care of it for us...'' I hope they still have their kneecaps.
Jake has said that one of his favourite scenes is the one where tornados devastate his home town of LA. Apparently ''A lot of people wanted me to cut that bit out and I said, 'Only over my dead body,' says Emmerich 'I've had to live in this town for 14 years and I didn't enjoy it one bit.' Sounds fair enough to me.
As you can tell, I've been having a winter's day going through my old Jake scrapbooks, which go back quite a few years. And I rediscovered this newspaper cutting which gives us some idea of what dreams drove Jake to be in the movies in the first place: 'Ever since I was a little boy, I've know what I wanted to be: a bird. Unfortunately, I was not that great at flying, so I gave that occupation up. I felt depressed that I did not have something to look forward to when I grew up. But since the day I saw my first movie, my worries were over.'
'There in front of me was a 'scween' (as I called it then). After the screen opened, people started moving around on it. It amazed me! It was a momentous occasion. It confirmedwhat I would do when I grew up - sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had not gone to that movie, but I did. And it gave me the 'key' to my acting future!'
And finally...
Prince Dastan's rather fine and gorgous foe, Toby Kebbell, attended the UK premiere of Leo DiCaprio's Body of Lies last week and, according to Empire, Toby is currently 'training hard for his big fight scene with Jake Gyllenhaal.' (I couldn't help myself from correcting the spelling of Gyllenhaal...). Now, I would pay good money to see this big sizzling fight scene, and I expect I will, over and over and over...
Includes pictures from links, IHJ, Getty and scans from WDW.
One of the qualifications for being a card-carrying Gyllenhaalic, is that you get used to things being postponed and, last night, the hoped-for promotion of Prince of Persia on Entertainment Tonight, became yet another example. So, we must wait a little longer for the interviews with Jake and his fellow PoPpies, and again must hope that when it does televise, we get more than a two-minute soundbite.
But the signs are that much more publicity is to come. Film sites across the net are dropping hints from the recent press day (mentioned here the other day), hosted by Jerry Bruckheimer on the Pinewood set of Prince of Persia. It sounds as if the sites have been warned to not yet mention what they experienced of this major project and instead they have been focusing on Bruckheimer's other major movies on the horizon, most of which appear to feature Johnny Depp. We are promised reports of the PoP visit during the coming months.
Jake has been associated with the David Fincher project Torso since before the original murders took place. Remember Jake's fake Torso tattoo on his inner arm back in the summer of 2006? It was wondered at the time whether this was part of Jake's campaign to win the role from Fincher, or maybe it was the result of a Zodiac-Torso shindig (permanent marker pens are never a good idea at a party...). However, earlier this year, Matt Damon's name began to be associated with the role of Elliot Ness. But there are two big roles in this project - murderer and detective.
Recent interviews with producer Bill Mechanic have suggested that Torso will be David Fincher's next role. More interestingly, Mechanic has been at pains to deny or confirm nothing when it comes to the casting: he 'also says the people that are rumored to be attached probably are…'. And here: 'Could the square-jawed Damon be Ness then? Could Gyllenhaal be reprising his “Zodiac” fascination with the hunt for a serial killer as the story’s narrator? “Some of those rumors are true,” Mechanic said, “and some of those rumors are not true. But there are major people waiting to come aboard.”' This man should be a politican.
Whatever happens, and I think it unlikely Jake will climb aboard this one, I will always welcome the idea of Jake working again with David Fincher. It's just difficult to know if Jake feels the same way. Jake working with Matt Damon, clearly someone Jake respects greatly, is another reason to tick the boxes on this one. One thing's for sure - if Jake does get involved and Torso is made, it will be postponed.
Setting woolly trends
Now that the winter weather is fair closing in - at least in these parts - you too can be cool in classic knitwear ala Jake. With thanks to IHJ for the new old pictures of Jake in one of his favourite cardies, this post is illustrated by some of the more notable woollies that have kept Jake cosy over recent years.
And finally
Here is a great sighting of Maggie, Peter, Ramona and possibly Naomi yesterday at the Brooklyn's Children Museum.
Now the US election is over, we can focus on what really matters, and that is Jake Gyllenhaal on ET tonight (hopefully, if the schedulers don't decide to bump the feature to make way for more election specials). While, no doubt, many Gyllenhaalics are nervous, indeed fearful, of our very first glimpse of Jake all bare-chested, armoured and English-accented, moving, speaking, fighting as Prince Dastan, this enterprise represents a step in a new direction for Jake and marks a period of change for our nation.
Where was I...? Oh yes, fingers crossed Jake will be on ET today and we will get a look in virtual 3D of the walking, talking, battling Prince, complete with chest hair, biceps and flashing blue eyes. This prospect can only remind me of how Jake was described back in 2004 by Roland Emmerich as an 'anti-hunk'. The 'anti' can now be safely deleted and replaced by 'gobsmacking', or words to that effect.
Roland told the New York Post in May 2004: '"He always looks so intelligent," Emmerich says. "He takes acting really seriously." In fact, at one point on the "Tomorrow" shoot, 250 extras waited for two days in the New York Public Library as Gyllenhaal did take after take on a crucial speech. "I kept telling him, 'Jake, it's easy,'" Emmerich says. "But he was so caught up in making the scene real that he just couldn't get it. He nailed it at the end of the second day. Everyone burst into applause."... In "Tomorrow," Gyllenhaal's love interest is 17-year-old Emmy Rossum ("Mystic River"). Their big moment comes after they get soaked by freezing-cold water and escape into an abandoned store. "Jake strips down to his shorts, and Emmy puts her arms around him - it's very erotic," Emmerich says. "He may be an anti-hunk. But he's in great shape."'
It's good to hear that, no matter how good an actor Jake most certainly is, certain directors know that a good actor can also be a sight for sore eyes, and vice versa. With Jake we have the best of both worlds.
And finally...
Elizabeth Banks, the actress who recently told the world of how she had the unbelieveable treat of trying out a scene as Juliet to Jake's Romeo and then failed to recognise Jake when he came up to chat to her, has been talking again about how she is not interested in Jake. Here is Elizabeth describing why she is not in the rags: 'I'm not trying to have Jake Gyllenhaal's baby. I'm not a major fashionista. I'm not going through a lesbian phase. I'm just normal. I'm just really freakin' normal.' If it hadn't have been for the first part of the statement, I might have agreed with her.
