Thursday, August 23, 2012

Growing Pains

With Jake's play opening tomorrow, it signals a change for Jake. New challenges and more into a different part of his career.

 After career defining highs and less that critical success, Jake found himself in an uneasy place.

 “I wasn’t really listening to myself about the kinds of projects I wanted to do,” he said in a recent interview, reflecting on the past decade. “I had to figure out what kind of an actor I wanted to be and feel confident going for that.”

 And what we have been seeing this past year is Jake working on being the kind of actor he wants to be.

 "Nominated for a supporting actor Oscar for 'Brokeback,' said he still revels in experimenting with his take on characters from scene to scene and performance to performance. But acting rigor is increasingly his goal, and perhaps the respect that comes with it. “Early in your career it’s hard to know everything for yourself, and asking questions isn’t always a welcome thing in Hollywood, where everyone seems like they know what they’re doing,” he said during an interview over tofu salad and squid sashimi at a Japanese restaurant in the West Village.

 “Around the time I hit 30, I asked myself if I was respecting acting as a craft,” ...."and if I was doing the right projects that deserved my attention and where I’m learning in a way that you might not feel at 15. So now it’s like I look at acting more as building little delicate cricket cages, with care and more thought.” In the past 18 months Mr. Gyllenhaal parted ways with his longtime manager, signed with a new agency and began devoting more time to selecting and preparing for projects."

 Projects like EoW, The Enemy and the play are part of Jake's journey. Even Berlinale.  And there seems to be a paradigm shift from acting and the celebrity, to acting and the craft that it is, and with that maturity, commitment, and challenge.

Why did we see Jake up at Columbia so much last spring? He was contact his professors for advice about his role in The Enemy.

On EoW Jake got so involved giving feed back, watching dailies and things like him checking out the camera technology and showed so much commitment that "John Lesher, one of its producers, decided after filming to make Mr. Gyllenhaal an executive producer."

And he's tackling the play the same way. Taking on the challenge that is stretching him and make him give everything and more. He went out and sought the play, pursuing it and it writer and director.

 "It was Terry’s capacity for cruelty that appealed to Mr. Gyllenhaal most of all. 'The intentions of Terry are very different from anything I’ve played before, especially his vicious side,” he said. 'It intrigued me so much, and that was the sign. I want to come home at the end of the day and be wiped out and feel I’ve torn my heart out from acting and feel fulfilled. At this point I don’t have the desire to do anything other than projects that make me feel that way.'"

 It looks like Jake is growing, we will just have wait and see where he ends up.

 And Jake, Break A Leg!!

Quote Source - NY Times.

9 comments:

the real m said...

Very exciting the new direction he is taking. I hope the play reviews are positive. I recall Jake being seen with lots of police in LA too, maybe he was asking them questions about the job while he was first considering the role.

the real m said...

welcome Nev. Unfortunately the Toothy and Goose history is long and much of the historical data is no longer available for viewing by newcomers. Not the stuff on OMG, but other sites like Ted Casblanca's who started the Toothy saga. Blogs have come and gone and changes in blog formats occurred on some that wiped out posts. Old timers like us can only fill in so many blanks.

Cloud 9 said...

Nice post today. I like the direction Jake is taking with his acting too. Looking forward to The Enemy very much, very intriguing.

prairiegirl said...

So thank goodness for OMG, right? Because it's all here. Tweets that have been deleted, comments or blog posts that have been pulled, internet article links that lead to nowhere and "no longer exist". OMG still has everything that happened in real time.

True, some of the links aren't going to work because the article has been taken down but a lot of times, we posted the article or a quote on the blog so you still have it here.



Sheesh, well I would have been waiting until forever had I been waiting for ol' sheesh to bring something to the table, wouldn't I. Not waiting forever for a puff of smoke.

prairiegirl said...

I can't let the day reach 10-12 hours old without wishing Jake the best of luck tonight. I'm very excited about his play run and excuse me for a minute....

I had to scroll my screen. I can't take that last picture of him, lol.

Very excited for this play and I bet he is very nervous today but hopefully it goes off with a big bang and it is well received. It's a Big day!

Break a leg, Jake and go get 'em!

Special K said...

Best Headline of the day courtesy of Queerty

Jake Gyllenhaal, Male Full-Frontal Nudity Arrive Off-Broadway (Not Together, Alas)

Blurb about the play here

Special K said...

And Jake made PLAYBILL!!

I fell in love with the character at the start," he says. "He brings a sadness to the play, and I'm drawn to that darkness. He's a real avoider, like everyone in the play. Perhaps that disconnection is what connected me to him. I love his techniques of avoiding, how he speaks in short sentences and unfinished thoughts. The way each character talks looks differently on the page. I love the architecture of the words."

So what if his character comes with a British accent? "I've played British characters before," says Gyllenhaal. "I've spent, accumulatively, about two years in London, and a majority of my very close friends are British. It comes somewhat naturally. I gravitate toward roles with accents. The voice is a wonderful way into the eternal life of the character."



It took him two years to find a clearing for If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet.

Check out the interview.

PLAYBILL

Nev said...

Thanks The real m :) I've noticed that a few things have disappeared but there's still enough to read up on. :) Thank gawd! :p

I am sooooo excited about this play but at the same time soooo sad because I'm in the UK and I doubt the play will come to London (considering they've done it here originally)... *sigh*... As long as I get to see photos and stuff...might help the sobbing ;)

I love the 'new' direction Jake's taking. Everything he's doing this year sounds amazing and very very veeeery promising *fingerscrossed* ><

Nev

AUS10 said...

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12:22 PM - 24 Aug 12 via WhoSay · Details