Cast of characters: Lou Howard Adam Anthony Billy Rob Loki

2015 is going to be a busy Jake year. He's drawing raves on Broadway for Constellations. And cinematically, things heat up as the long-awaited Nailed (retitled Accidental Love) hits VOD. The movie was shot seven years ago but feels even older than that. You can review the history here. I'm happy we finally get to see it, but it's a curiosity at best. Not too many reviews yet. One from Film Stage and a more positive spin from AV Club:

If there’s any good news here, it’s that, despite rumors to the contrary, Accidental Love is very much a coherent movie. It’s not incomplete; it’s just been sloppily completed—cobbled together, in other words, by filmmakers (or distribution cronies) looking to salvage a releasable product out of footage crying out to be reshot or reworked. Yet traces of Russell’s spirit, a humane screwball exuberance, poke through the compromised results. It’s there in the way the movie keeps stuffing a bunch of yammering eccentrics in a room together, and also in the bug-eyed performance the director coaxes out of Jake Gyllenhaal, whose character—a flip-flopping, libidinous politician—could have fit neatly into American Hustle. Russell fans owe it to themselves to see this disowned disaster, painful as that act of completism will be.



For a darker movie and brighter film, check out Nightcrawler, out on DVD this week in the U.S. The Boston Globe has a nice review of the movie and Jake:

It’s a rare actor who can shift from appealing to unsettling and back again as smoothly as Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s certainly creepy in “Nightcrawler” (2014), as Lou Bloom, an oddball newbie videographer trolling LA for blood-spattered footage that he can shop to the local TV news. In a lone quick featurette, writer-turned-director Dan Gilroy (“The Bourne Legacy”) explains that the character is modeled in part on noted 1940s New York crime shutterbug Weegee. But we half-wonder if Gyllenhaal and Gilroy might also have been thinking of Budd Schulberg’s inside-showbiz novel, “What Makes Sammy Run?” Between Lou’s slimy careerism and the dark LA setting, it feels a bit like we’re watching a socially challenged version of archetypal aspiring weasel Sammy Glick. It’s also tightly coiled strangeness on a par with what we’ve seen Gyllenhaal deliver in his “Donnie Darko” breakout and, just recently, in the doppelganger freakout “Enemy” and as a haunted detective in “Prisoners.” He’s so adept at this sort of thing, you’d think it might put him in the Anthony Perkins category, pigeonholed with cause. But try putting together a videofest of Gyllenhaal’s weirdest work and some of his better mainstream-charismatic stuff — plus “Brokeback Mountain,” of course — and see if you don’t wind up disoriented. He’s well cast in the smart, underrated time-travel thriller “Source Code.” He’s all down-home likability as a teen science enthusiast in the early-career effort “October Sky.” And he even lends some feeling to the popcorn devastation of “The Day After Tomorrow.” Not bad for a nightcrawler.



Indiewire reflects on Jake's 9 Best Performances, including Enemy:

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There's also news of Jake's other 2015 releases. First up, a still from Southpaw:



That looks uncomfortable!



There hasn't been much news on Everest but I found this on IMDb:

Jason Clarke is the lead, Jake & Josh are supporting. All are excellent.

It is an ensemble film, but Jason as Rob seems to have more screen time focused on him than the others. Should be a hit, possible Oscar contender, especially in technical categories - cinematography, sound, editing. I saw a screening recently and really enjoyed it. The runtime was just over 2 hours, on this site it says 2 1/2, maybe that was a different cut. ...

Do most of the supporting cast get a decent amount of screen time? Is this one of the most realistic movies based on mountain climbing to hit the big screen?

Yes, the main characters all get ample screen time, but like I said, the focus seems to be on Rob Hall as the expedition leader. Emily Watson really shines as the operations manager at base camp. Robin Wright and Keira Knightly only have a few scenes but make an impact. Haven't seen too many mountain climbing movies (Eiger Sanction comes to mind), and I know this wasn't actually filmed on Everest (there were a few unfinished SFX shots which made me realize this fact), but it looked real to me.

Everest is a movie for all audiences and should do pretty well on its own with good reviews and word of mouth, it's an excellent film. They would be wise to possibly hold the release until later in the year for academy award marketing.

You wont be disappointed. I knew very little about the actual events before the screening and was completely enthralled, have since done some research and the movie gets a lot right, and yes, is very respectful and honest.

Going back to Loki: I don't remember seeing this. I think it's the London Apple Store panel for Prisoners:

Questions and (some) answers

Some new Enemy art, from the New Yorker and the studio:






Amid the surprising riches of the Enemy promotion, this unexpected treat just popped up. Taped in November of last year, here's a 90-minute Career Conversation with Jake Gyllenhaal, presented by SAG-AFTRA:



Ninety minutes of Jake talking about his career and his family and friends. From road trips to cornrows, the convo runs the gamut. There's some babble in there, but lots of insight and humor. A real treat.

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From an interview with Salon:

I look at movies like dreams in a way. We have them. There’s something to be learned there. Some people might say they are these things at night that ultimately just keep your neurons going and keep your brain warm. Other people might say they’re open for interpretation. Other people have many ideas. But, to me, I think movies are like that. When you wake up from a dream sometimes you’re moved, sometimes you’re terrified, sometimes you have no idea what happened. And I like all of those things that happen during it. But most of the time you wake up and go, “Wait a second. This just happened when I was asleep. But I don’t know what it’s about.” And I like that about movies and I think you sit in the dark, much like you do when you’re dreaming and you experience something. So I am thrilled by the open ends and the questions. I think they’re what it’s all about.

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Jake's Five Favorite Movies, via Rotten Tomatoes:


La Strada (Federico Fellini, 1954; 97% Tomatometer)

The next I would say is La Strada because, well, do I really have to say? I feel like it's sort of self-explanatory. Like [laughs] Giulietta Masina, I mean every performance, but particularly the last scene in the movie, with Anthony Quinn and just being on the beach, and everything about that movie is beautiful. And there's something always about his films that, knowing that audio was recorded post shooting the film -- I'm pretty sure that's true with that movie -- just to know, in a way, if it is true, it's just to know that there are two sort of performances happening simultaneously. You can see and hear that. And I love that idea and what skill and sort of the presence to this day that movie has. And it's also personally really resonant because my father said after he saw that movie, it was what made him want to make movies, and when I finally saw it when I was a teenager, I understood why. So it inevitably has a resonance beyond the brilliance of the movie itself.

So it was just something that was prominent in your family, growing up?

La Strada? Yeah when I was an infant we were just talking about it. [laughs] No, I just think it sort of tied to that. I mean, I just wonder sometimes if my father hadn't seen that movie and been so moved by it, you know, would he have met my mother? Would my sister have been born? You know, there's a lot of "would-haves" and eventually all of us have found our way into the movie business, so you know, that's just an interesting thing. And you know, you never know how a movie will inspire someone and how it will lead not just one life but many to come. Sort of an interesting idea.

Surrounded by the Enemy

The Enemy push continues with another behind-the-scenes featurette, as well as a few Jake Gyllenhaal interviews. First up, a podcast for CBC radio's Q with Jian Khomeshi.



In January, Jake traveled to Toronto to screen Enemy at the Canada Top Ten festival. He also taped an interview for George Stromboulopoulos Tonight:



Jake recently called Vanity Fair to discuss Enemy and working with Denis Villeneuve:



One of your characters is a professor, the other is a self-absorbed actor. Which character did you relate to more?

Is this a trick question?! I felt more comfortable playing the [professor] Adam character because he was sort of the protagonist, the one in my mind whom I wanted to succeed. And I wanted Anthony’s wife to end up with Adam ultimately. With Anthony [the actor], sadly, maybe he came to me more naturally given my own profession. But I always found myself intimidated while playing him. If he walked in a room, he would not take no for an answer. If Adam walked into the room, he would immediately resign himself to the “no” answer and then apologize for even asking. So in a way, Anthony is an easier character to play because there is a forward momentum.

The latest Enemy featurette delves into the mind of director Denis Villeneuve:

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This story from Italy names Jake as the lead in Everest. Probably just an assumption; the Italian press seems to focus on Jake as the most famous member of the cast. The story also doesn't say who these people are with Jake. I think the guy with the bead is Michael Kelly. Pardon the bad google translation, especially in the food section:

The Sherpas. The bulky crew, made up of 180 people from all over the world, enjoyed the hotels in the valley, as well as the food and, of course, wine. Eleven Sherpas came to South Tyrol for shooting straight from Nepal, supported by a group of six security personnel from New Zealand. To be part of this international team also about 60 South Tyroleans worked as location manager, assistant director and costumers for the production staff, drivers, guides and extras. They were joined by carpenters, electricians, seamstresses and ski instructors.

Production. The "control center", as busy as a beehive, was in Maso Corto, where they were available to the production with 32 telephone lines. The team stayed in Schnalstal, divided among a dozen hotels and lodges and everyone was able to enjoy the special hospitality and kindness of the Valley, especially the delicious delicacies prepared by our chefs. They especially appreciated the roast chamois Goldenen Kreuz, the Keiserschmarrn and sushi Goldenen Rose, as well as the roast rabbit dell'Oberrainlhof enjoyed by the Sherpas. Paul Grüner's "Goldenen Rose" from Certosa was in charge of the catering for the set workers on the glaciers; up to 400 meals per day were transported and consumed there.

Shooting: … The outside temperature on the glacier was several degrees below zero, the wind and heavy snow put a strain on man and machine. "The continuous changes in the weather gave us quite a hard time in recent weeks," said the producers. As soon as we decided to shoot in a particular place and we had moved all the necessary equipment, the weather changed and we had to rearrange everything. Fortunately, our team was experienced and professional to be able to keep up with any unexpected events."

Difficulties: But professionals are seen also, and especially, in these conditions: the actors are dressed as if they were really on Everest and have continued their work. "During the making of other films, the stars are taken on the set by limo; here we arrive by cable car or chairlift. ... A major challenge for this production was logistics: all the equipment was transported with snowmobiles and helicopters, up to a warehouse built at 3,000 meters high.

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#TBT October Sky



I think I was 10 years old and hanging out on the movie set October Sky with Jake Gyllenhaal #tbt #octobersky #jakegyllenhaal #petrostn #coalfield #morgancounty

Another #TBT:



Throwback Thursday to the day I asked Jake Gyllenhaal, "excuse me, could we take a picture with you?"
#tbt #jakegyllenhaal #globalwarmingawareness #iqaluit #nunavut

(Happy Sad Confused photo with/from MTV's Josh Horowitz.)

Enemy front

While Everest films in Italy, Enemy begins its Stateside media blitz. DirecTV has an exclusive (and unimbeddable) feature. There are new interviews at Yahoo and Huffington Post.

Some highlights:

There were a lot of challenges Gyllenhaal faced filming scenes twice — once as his professor character, Adam, and then as occasionally working actor, Anthony (each with their own beautiful blond paramour played by Mélanie Laurent and Sarah Gadon, respectively). "I like working with actors who push me and who are more talented than me," Gyllenhaal said. "It always makes you better. I've had the opportunity to do that and in this case it wasn't true," he said of his scenes with himself.

On set, he tried different techniques, also acting opposite another actor who would later be digitally replaced with his own character. But he found it didn't quite work. "It became distracting," Gyllenhaal explained. "No matter how great other actor is — to see their choices was distracting because I knew I had already made other ones and I knew which way the story was going to go."

Instead, he preferred the tennis ball with the two dots. He would throw his voice to represent his other character — and if one were to watch it live on set, out of context, you might just think Gyllenhaal was going mad. "Boundaries got a little lost and that definitely affects you psychologically," the actor confirmed.

"I legitimately pictured a person in front of me," he explained. "This is going to sound odd, but I can picture and feel what it felt like in a moment that I had just done previously," he said, further describing a sort of sense memory he has, one that allows him to recall with precision exact film takes — often one of several. "Sometimes I can feel in my bones takes I've done," he says, admitting that his favorite ones don't always make the final cut.

When it comes to the two Jake Gyllenhaals in "Enemy," the idea might appeal to some, especially his female fans. But to him, having a duplicate version of himself just sounds like a bad idea. "I feel like there's enough of me to handle in just one of me," he teased.



Jake Gyllenhaal is pretty much the ideal candidate for a film interview. For what I do for a living, there's nothing worse than an actor who sleepwalks his or her way through an interview (though, considering how many he or she are often subjected to in a given day, it is at least understandable), not giving any thought to what is actually being said, just spitting out rehearsed line after line of predetermined PR-speak. I'm honestly not sure if Gyllenhaal would even be capable of that. He's quick-witted, but also puts so much thought into his answers that often I just want to interrupt and tell him that everything will be okay. It's obvious that Jake Gyllenhaal cares -- which is almost unique in a world in which it's cool not to care.

He told the story that suggests you two got drunk and came up with this idea.
Well, we didn't know how potent the wine was -- let's just say it that way. There were some moments that happened in our conversation. Not only did we connect and just sort of have an amazing discussion, but this woman turned to me at one point who was sitting next to us with her husband and she said, "I hate to interrupt your dinner, but I just want you to know that everybody always says that you look like my son. Can I show you? You are an exact duplicate of my son." And I was like, "Oh, okay." And she showed me this picture and Denis was like, "It's crazy! You look exactly alike!" And we didn't, in my opinion. But, it was the movie! How you could you not do a movie? Unless Denis planted this woman there [laughs].

So you didn't know what "Enemy" would be until that happened?
No, I didn't know what it was going to be until we sat there.

She should have a credit on the poster.
The woman? Yeah, I know. I bet that he planted her. No, but those things happened in our conversation -- those sort of fateful moments and I realized it was something that I had to be involved in.

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The makeup team from Prisoners won an award over the weekend at the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards. Mowat on Jake:

“There are only a handful of actresses that will go to the lengths Maria did for a role. Her transformation was very real, right down to the progressive hollowing of her eyes. Both her and Jake were lovely to work with. It was actually my first time working with Jake. He was like an old-fashioned movie star; you just can’t take your eyes off of him. When he arrived on set the first day, he had long hair and a beard, which I had to get rid of. His initial ideas for the neck tattoos also had me worried. They were intended to be peeking out above his collar, which would have called for constant touch ups. But when it all came together, they were made more visible and he almost had a retro Russian look to him. The tattoos added to the mystery of his character to the point where you are not sure whether or not he is the guilty one.”

Mowat also worked on Nightcrawler. I'd be curious to hear what he has to say about Jake in that flick!

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Today's blast from the past: More clean-shaven Jake during Love & Other Drugs filming days:

Meet the filmmakers

We saw that poster first in September, but now, it's official. And comes with a release date for the United States: March 14.



On Sunday, Canadians got a chance to hear Jake Gyllenhaal and Denis Villeneuve discuss their first collaboration, Enemy, selected as one of Canada's Top Ten Film Festival.




Also back in September, Jake, Denis and Hugh Jackman did a Prisoners event at the Apple store in London. It's now available on youtube:



There are some pretty funny moments in it - definitely worth a watch.

You can also listen to the Source Code MTF session here. I don't remember hearing or watching that whole event before.

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Photo by Patrick James Miller for Variety Magazine.

This and that

A grab bag of Jake Gyllenhaal news today. First up, Jake covers the December issue of Elle Men Thailand. Maybe they will have more of these gorgeous shots inside:

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Enemy has been selected for the 13th annual Canada's Top Ten Film Festival:

The 10-day festival runs January 3 to 12, 2014 at TIFF Bell Lightbox and features public screenings of the selected films, accompanied by introductions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers. On January 5, the Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival welcomes Academy Award-nominees Denis Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal to TIFF Bell Lightbox to discuss their recent collaborations.

In Conversation With… Denis Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal — Sunday, January 5 at 3:30 p.m. With the Hollywood studio film Prisoners and the independent Canadian film Enemy, Denis Villeneuve and Jake Gyllenhaal have struck up a potent director-actor relationship. In this conversation with Cameron Bailey, they will discuss inspiration, working methods and the distance between Hollywood and Toronto.

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From an article on the casting for Prisoners:

One conversation was about who would play Detective Loki, the investigating officer and an outsider in the town. (Star Hugh Jackman was already on board to play father Keller Dover when Barden and Schnee joined the team.) Villeneuve had just worked with Jake Gyllenhaal on “Enemy,” and when his name came up the director was eager to work with Gyllenhaal again.

“I had not thought of Jake as a down-and-dirty L.A. cop,” says Barden, adding that he watched Gyllenhaal’s police officer drama “End of Watch” while casting “Prisoners.” “I’ve known him over the years, and we cast him in ‘Proof’ years ago. From the work he’s done over the years, he’s just really grown as a man. He’s just such a good actor, so it was kind of fun to cast him in something that was the loner and man out of his element.”

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Vote for Jake's rendition of The Great Gatsby in Audible's Best of 2013 contest.

Screening Time

The Prisoners screening tour moved to the East Coast this week, with a screening of the movie and a Q&A at the Museum of the Moving Image on Sunday night. I think it's the film that is supposed to move, not the garish backdrop/kaleidoscope.







If it's Tuesday morning, that must have been MoMA last night:






No real reports from the screenings, but Variety has posted a snippet of their Prisoners event:



And from another LA screening last week:

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Jake has also done more interviews. Here he is for Gold Derby:



And for Movies.com, plus brief chats with Indiewire and Vulture.

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Have we seen this image before? It was posted on Instagram by an Anne Hathaway fan site:

Questions and answers

Jake Gyllenhaal, Melissa Leo and writer Aaron Guzikowski attended a Prisoners screening, as part of the :A Times Envelope series. You can watch the Q&A here. The moderator, Steven Zeitchik, teases Jake about his hand injury. It's fun to watch the interplay among the participants.

Go to the bottom of the post for a clip on the movie's themes with a funny exchange between Melissa and Jake over their first collaboration on Homicide.





In more Prisoners awards promotion, Jake and Melissa will take part in a live chat on Gold Derby today:
Jake Gyllenhaal ("Prisoners") Thursday, Nov. 21, 9:50 a.m. PT / 12:50 p.m. ET
Melissa Leo ("Prisoners") Thursday, Nov. 21, 12:00 p.m. PT / 3:00 p.m. ET

I found a new/old Youtube video from the Prisoners Toronto premiere, with some funny post-movie stage talk:

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Variety's annual SAG preview features actors discussing awards-worthy performances. Here's Richard Jenkins on Jake in Prisoners:

Richard Jenkins on Jake Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki in “Prisoners” Jake Gyllenhaal in “Prisoners” was simply a cop doing his job, and it was a beautiful thing to watch. I didn't know anything about his character, where he was from, if he was married, had any kids, what the tattoo on his neck meant or why he buttoned the top button of his shirt. Nothing. And he wasn't interested in telling me. He was too busy being a cop. But by the movie's end, I knew him. Totally. Completely. And he was never interested in helping me, as an audience member, understand him, or like him, or sympathize with him. He was only interested in doing his job. It's always thrilling to watch a living, breathing human being on the screen. That's Jake. He takes you with him on this journey. Doesn't ask you to come along, doesn't even know you're there, because he's too busy being a cop doing his job. It's the case of a lifetime for this guy and he's working it alone. No other cops to talk about it with. It's internalized, lived, and I could watch all day. Simply a great performance.

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The Melissa/Jake exchange: