Jake Gyllenhaal on snakes, spiders and… Hugh Jackman

GYLLENHAAL. “I’m scared of missed opportunities.” Photo by Ruben Nepales

LOS ANGELES—While Hugh Jackman has the “showy” role in “Prisoners” as a father who takes matters into his own hands when his daughter and her friend go missing, Jake Gyllenhaal has the “quiet” part as the detective assigned to head the investigation. Both give two of this year’s best performances. In a chat in Toronto, Jake generously credited Hugh for giving him the “adrenaline rush” that inspired his own effective portrayal of Detective Loki.

“The thing that gives me the adrenaline the most is when I watch another actor ‘killing’ it,” Jake said, referring to Hugh nailing his scenes as a desperate father. “Like when I watch Hugh in some of my scenes with him, like when I show him the children’s clothes. When I saw him deliver the performance he does in those scenes, that was an adrenalin rush for me, because I feel like, when people are honest in them, there’s a vulnerability that’s deep.”

Exciting, scary

“In a weird way, it’s more exciting and scary than snakes crawling all over you,” Jake said with a laugh, alluding to a scene where many snakes surround him. “It’s what I do my job for and why we love working in the movies. It’s incredible to be there live!”

Jake and Hugh only had four scenes together, but the latter seemed to have made a good impression on the former. “What I was fascinated about him was, like everybody says, he’s such a good guy,” Jake remarked. “I had never met him before. I had only seen him from afar.”

“Hugh does extensive research,” Jake said of his costar. “He has an incredible work ethic. He came in prepared. I’m not surprised, because I know he comes from theater, but I was still surprised, given the fact that there was no reason or need for him to be like that. He inspired me all the time. He brought it to every scene. I would push him and say things and improv. He’d be right there and give it back. We started playing back and forth. It was so much fun! I hope we can do it again.”

“But, not this kind of story,” Jake quipped with a chuckle, suggesting a lighter fare, since the Denis Villeneuve-directed drama is dark and harrowing. The strong ensemble includes Paul Dano, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello and Melissa Leo.

Intimate space

Jake said, “When I watched the film, I remember being there—just me, (cinematographer) Roger Deakins and his guys in the room. Denis and everybody else were in the other rooms. It was a very intimate space, and Hugh was just ‘destroying’ take after take. It was a beautiful and exhilarating thing to see!”

Compellingly portraying a detective by using mostly his eyes, Jake shared that he was moved by Hugh’s performance, because the latter allows his vulnerability to show, even as he goes to extremes to find his 6-year-old daughter. “The nature of my character is always to look at every person, question him, and pull out some kind of truth, whether or not he was actually being real,” Jake said.

“I was ready to do that—and I did. What I discovered with Hugh, and what motivated and inspired me was that he was so vulnerable underneath all that. The engine for his strength and all that toughness, all the things that he’s put into his performances, is that great vulnerability. That he’s a genuinely good man. Coming away from it, in between takes, he wanted to connect. He wanted to talk. He’s immediately intimate. He wants to understand and is open to suggestions, questions and rehearsing. That’s the nature of the mind of the actor.”

On acting cool while snakes were slithering all over the floor, Jake said, “Pretend like you’re not afraid?” He laughed as he cracked, “That’s what I’m doing all the time, pretty much.” He imbues Detective Loki with a humanizing tic—an eye twitch.

He added, “We had also done a scene in the other movie (‘Enemy’) that Denis and I did together, where there were spiders everywhere. He has a thing about those insects. He likes to put his actors with them.”

“That was not fun at all,” he continued talking about standing there with all the reptiles. “When Denis called ‘Cut!’ the snakes were crawling all over your pants, arms and everywhere. Their wrangler was going like, ‘Don’t worry, they don’t bite at all.’ But, it’s terrifying! You have to pretend.”

What scares him in real life? “There are so many things. I get very scared of missed opportunities, like not being able to see something right in front of me or not listening carefully enough. I think most of all, I’m scared that I’m passing by something that’s so clearly right there.”

And, yes, he’s truly scared of snakes and spiders. “Spiders—probably more,” he said, his blue eyes smiling.

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