Cheese. Biggie. A girl named Tanya. The In Conversation session with Jake Gyllenhaal at the Dubai International Film Festival threw up some unexpected titbits on the US actor for a theatre full of his most ardent fans in the country.
Gyllenhaal’s Q&A began with the 34 year old receiving Variety’s International Star of the Year award from Steven Gaydos, vice-president, executive editor of Variety magazine, before they sat down on stage for a discussion of Gyllenhaal’s “craft”.
While Gyllenhaal’s body of work is thrilling (Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain and Source Code being just a few highlights), it’s not always as enthralling to hear someone discuss their preparation for a role or what it’s like working with different directors.
To put it bluntly: The questions, and the ensuing answers, were a little generic. I could feel the journalists in the audience alongside me shifting in their seats as we itched to ask him about Donald Trump (the conversation veered close to politics, before being swiftly redirected by Gaydos), what was it was like dating Taylor Swift, whether he would just please take his shirt off and if he believes in time travel (that one’s for you Donnie Darko fans).
He did throw us for a loop when he suddenly revealed a passion for rap.
“I take my guidance from hip hop,” he said, to warm laughter. “You act like your first time might be your last time, and that’s from Biggie [Notorious BIG].”
Amid the talk of scripts and directors, and audience members wishing him happy “almost-birthday”, and asking him to tell their friend that he loves them (the aforementioned Tanya, who become something of a running gag) there were some real gems. Check out what he had to say.
Brokeback Mountain was a no-brainer
“I did not hesitate [to take it on]. It was Ang Lee, a beautiful screenplay, when you have two of those things, they kind of trump everything else. when the elements are fantastic, you better join up. But I don’t think anyone had any idea when we made that movie, what impact it would have. I think if we did we wouldn’t have been able to make the movie that we did.”
He’s ok with “stinky” projects
“Some of the best ones have been around for 10 years. People tend to go, ‘wow, ten years ... stinky!’. But some of the best wines are older than that. And ... cheese ... sorry, I just got lost.”
He’d do a romcom ... kind of
“At different times of my career, perhaps I was trying to present myself as something other than what I actually was. People often say to me, ‘when are you going to do a comedy?’, and I’d say, if I had the opportunity I’d love to do that. Or ‘why don’t you do a romantic comedy, what you do is so dark’. And I think to myself, I think a romantic comedy could be dark, not in the subject but in the process.”
He feels less pressure to do Hollywood stuff
“I had those meetings at different times of my career before. When you are in your early 20s and someone is saying [you should do an action film or a romance] maybe you are not as sure. At least I have met people of all ages who were much more assured than I was at that particular age. The pressure comes from me having a very high standard for a story, and trying, knowing that nine times out of 10 you’ll probably fail, and at the same time, knowing you’ll have to give it all, no matter what. Sometimes the game is won with the last few seconds, and keep your eye always in the game. Miracles do happen.”
His preparation for films is a big deal
“I did End of Watch, we shot it in 22 days, and we prepared for five months. When we did Nightcrawler, we shot it in 25 days, and I prepared for months before that. The world has become more business than art, movies change and are shaped by [people’s schedules] so it really comes down to preparation. There are different stages, an intellectual stage, trying to figure out the facts of your character ... I’ll try to read as much as I can. Then once I find something, I’ll put it into action in the real world, I’ll go try and see that out in reality. Then I will try to experience, or learn it or at least watch it. Although I think there are some things in the world that, in my opinion, are unhealthy or too risky to actually try. If you’re going to be playing a drug addict I don’t think you need to do that. Then there’s the part where all that work clicks your imagination on, and for all that talk about a method, or living within a character, I think imagination is half of it, and you can get lost in the reality of a character.”
He loves Ken Loach and the Goonies
“The Prophet, A Separation, I also love Jerry Maguire, and The Goonies [the audience cheers]. I really love those movies and they shaped my childhood and when I ask myself about stories, they are always there. I’m like, ‘why can’t Josh Brolin be in this, in a bandanna?’ I just worked with Josh and all I did was talk about The Goonies, which he really didn’t like. I’m a huge Mike Leigh fan, Ken Loach fan, My Name Is Joe is one of my favourite movies. You can feel the spontaneity as an actor. Ken Loach has such a tremendous love for his characters. He’s not objectifying. When I think about the similarities between the filmmakers I love, it’s an ability to not fear being intimate with their subject, not commenting on their subject, but wanting to be closer to them.”
He’d like to work with the Coen brothers
“I had the honour of being on the jury at Cannes with the Coen brothers this year and it was what I had always wished for.”
