The London International Film Festival is now underway. On the other side of the pond, the New York City Film Festival is also full steam ahead and, should you be so lucky as to attend one of its screenings and parties, you might want to keep your eyes open. Since supporting Michelle Williams at the premiere of her My Week With Marilyn Film, Jake Gyllenhaal has been seen at two other screenings (and the number could be increasing by the hour).
On Tuesday, Jake was seen at the screening for one of the least memorably named movies around, 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' (or something like that). Note, Jake still hasn't found his contact lenses.
'At the party — also attended by a scruffy Jake Gyllenhaal and “Gossip Girl” star Chace Crawford — the three Olsens “held court at a corner table all night” and toasted Elizabeth’s movie with Bear Flag Wine, an eyewitness told us. Though Elizabeth is quickly entering star territory, she hasn’t mastered one celebri-feat: wearing sky-high heels all night. At the party, she “took off her very high heels and slipped on a pair of moccasins,” our source said. Gyllenhaal, meanwhile, also kept things casual, wearing cargo pants, a long-sleeve tee and glasses to the screening, then skipping the after-party. "I don’t think anyone knew he was there,” the source said. “He clearly did not want to be seen.”'
Should Jake fancy taking in more movies, how about a spot of LIFF?
Bear and Jake
Bear Grylls has been talking some more about Jake's appearance in Man Vs Wild. In this interview from Australia, Bear talks about Jake wanting to go for the full monty (in a manner of speaking) and he includes those immortal words 'What happens on the mountain, stays on the mountain'.
And finally...
I really wanted to include a link to this interview with Annie Proulx I saw today in which she gives some tips for those who want to write. It includes a mention of arguably her two most famous creations, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar.
'Proulx doesn’t mold characters after any real-life people, and when pressed, says only that it’s possible she draws inspiration from what’s happening around her. For example, the characters of Ennis and Jack in “Brokeback Mountain” may have sprung from some unconscious desire to counteract the “John Wayne, right-wing” mindset where she lives in Wyoming that cowboys can only be and act a certain way, she says. “I realize stories I’ve written are contrary to the culture and have a touch of the corrective about them,” she says. “I’m not saying that’s how it is, I’m saying, perhaps.”'
One of the many remarkable aspects of Brokeback Mountain, and the credit for this belongs as much to Ang Lee as it does to Jake Gyllenhaal, is how Jake was transformed from cityboy to cowboy. It wasn't easy for Jake, who had to get used to a lot more than just riding a horse that might throw him off in an instant.
'Yeah, I was naturally out of place there. I mean you're naturally out of place when you're a city boy anyway. As I walked into those bars I felt uncomfortable just as Jake. I'm not the kind of guy who walks into a bar and takes four shots; I'm just uncomfortable sitting at a bar. So it helped the idea that Larry and Ang and Annie were trying to tell with their story. You don't need to do much.' (Empire interview)
Cowboy bootcamp beckoned. '"He's a city boy. You could never make him look like a cowboy," the director laughs. He sent both Gyllenhaal and Ledger to cowboy school, although the Aussie actor came to the movie with a full set of skills, the thought of which inspires more chuckles from Lee. "Heath was always bored." The training was a necessity for Ledger's co-star. "He needed a lot of work, riding horses and doing chores, like moving back fences – spending half a day doing that – wood chopping, sheep tending, giving him splinters and bloody hands, and all that. Just rough him up," Lee notes.'
'From the director's standpoint, it was necessary for Ledger to take part in these sessions, as well, no matter how dull he might have found them. The idea was to bond the actors together, experience that became valuable when they started rehearsals and began discussing their characters. "What's their body language? How much Heath allowed the other person to come close to him," Lee explains, citing a few examples.'
One gets the feeling from many interviews conducted by Jake about Brokeback that Heath Ledger was an enormous influence for Jake on set, making him feel more comfortable when so clearly out of his element. Jake described one of his favourite scenes in the film: 'one of the best scenes in the movie for me is when Heath goes to the truck and punches that guy and gets thrown across the road, that makes me cry every time. Cos, one, I know it was the last day of shooting for him and he asked our wrangler, who is the guy who he punched, "Let's really fight; I really want you to beat me up" and he really got thrown across the cement.'
This is such a good interview, not least because it contains the immortal line: 'I've gotten so much flack about not getting naked and I am so open to getting naked'. Very good news.
Ang Lee had his own learning curve to climb, to get author Annie Proulx on board: 'Lee smiles as he jokes about how he pursued Annie Proulx in Wyoming and over dinner, persuading her to allow him to make her story into a movie by taking part in a regional delicacy. "I was very afraid of her," he says. "She’s very authoritative and serious. We were having dinner and she ordered some Rocky Mountain oysters and started smiling. I could tell what it was. I know there are no oysters in the Rocky Mountains," he continues, adding that the mood at the table became friendlier as the night wore on. "She said women are not supposed to eat them, and started smiling again. After a couple of drinks, she really loosened up," he says, laughing. "I guess she thought I was all right as the director of the movie." Lee says he was pleasantly surprised by the flavour of the bull’s fried former pride. "They’re pretty good. Lots of protein, I’m sure."'
A reader kindly posted a link here recently to a reminiscence of the Director's Guild Awards Dinner and Ang's nomination (and win): 'All of the honorees from film and television were present, with actors from their projects presenting them. Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain") was introduced by the quiet, softspoken Heath Ledger and the charming and gregarious Jake Gyllenhaal. They talked about what an honor and a privilege working on the film had been and how Ang's direction helped them grow as actors. When Heath and Jake introduced him, they both started to tear up and gave the director hugs when he reached the stage. The soft-spoken director took a moment, looked back at them with a smile, turned to the audience and said, "I don't know, guys. That felt kind of gay to me."'
Another report tells us what Jake and Heath said. '"Ang Lee is fierce in his timidity, his humbleness and his respect for everyone around him," Gyllenhaal said as he presented the diminutive director with a medallion in honor of his nomination. "He's frustrating and so damn wise." Ledger was equally generous with praise, thanking Lee for "introducing us to these delicate characters." "It took a delicate man to tell this story, and that's you," Ledger said. "I don't know about you," Lee said with a laugh, "but that feels a little gay to me."' Below is a visual reminder.
Finally, in a joint interview with Matt Damon, Heath recalled his own challenges on Brokeback: 'I mean, look, it was kinda like signing up for boot camp for I don't even know how many weeks I was out there, 15 weeks or something, but it was tough. It was a lonely experience, but it was definitely a real sense of accomplishment once I finished. It scared me s**tless. I was absolutely – I had so much fear for the project and the story and, you know, had to be brave. I definitely came out thinking, 'F**k, I can do anything' you know? It was a beautiful story, a beautiful script.' Q: Can you elaborate on what scared you? LEDGER: You know, the idea I had to make out with Jake Gyllenhaal for one, which, just wasn't the easiest thing to do.'
'DAMON: You found making out with me pretty easy though. LEDGER: It was dark and I was drunk. (Laughs) This was daytime and there was a lot of lights. (Laughs) You know, so that, it was just I had to do some things I've never done before. It was also like the aging process, I had to age from 18 to 40 and do that subtly. And there's not a lot of change between the age of 18 and 40 really. So I decided to do it in my accent. I staged my accent in pitches, so it was higher when I was younger and deeper when I was older and I tried to make it subtle. I've seen the film and I think it's, I'm not sure whether it's the most brilliant film I've seen or just the worst film I've seen. I've just come to terms with the fact now that I cannot transport myself when I watch myself in movies any more. I just think I'm crap in anything I do.'
And it turns out Matt was pretty close to doing the project himself: 'That's a beautiful script, Brokeback. I read it years ago. In fact, I was gonna do it years ago. Gus read it and wanted to do it after Good Will Hunting and I read it and I loved it. But I was going off to do Ripley and then All the Pretty Horses. So I said, 'Gus, I'm going to do a movie about, quite frankly, a guy who's gay, and then I'm going to do a movie about a cowboy. I shouldn't then just do a gay cowboy movie.' (Laughs) But I loved that script, I loved it. Larry McMurtry [wrote it].'
But, just as it was meant to be, Jake and Heath and Ang made Brokeback together and made it what it is and what it always will be. To give the last words to Heath (from the Tonight Show) '"It's a gorgeous script and God Jake's cute," said a smiling Ledger.'
By all accounts, Jake Gyllenhaal's Good Girl audition(s) were memorable. Not only did he throw a chair into the newly painted wall of writer and actor Mike White, Jake also made Jennifer Aniston speak to his friends on the phone.
'"I called all of [my friends]," the 21-year-old actor said, jokingly. "[He] made me talk to them," Aniston said with a smile. "I'm at the audition, I'm like, (mimes talking into telephone) 'Dude, you guys hold on. Before I go, would you just say hi to my friend?' " Gyllenhaal said. "No, I got the part, and my cell phone wasn't working. It didn't get good reception in Simi Valley where we shot, so I couldn't really call any of my friends that often. But yeah, I was very excited. I think more so that [Aniston] was doing something that was so out there and that I'd be a part of that."'
As for the love scenes: '"We're not naked, so there's that," Aniston explained. "Let's just get that clear," echoed Gyllenhaal. "We weren't naked. I was only naked. She wasn't naked."'
Jen had no trouble breaking the ice with Jake: 'We met each other and adored each other right off the bat. It was easy. As for the bedroom scene, we just bit the bullet, man, it was quick. Miguel [Arteta, the director] had it all set up and ready to go. It was two takes and we were done. You just dive in fast and furious as you can. Like diving into a cold pool.' I always get nervous with the photo below, seeing Jake so close to the (alledged but still scary) Zodiac....
At the Toronto Film Festival in 2002, while promoting Moonlight Mile, Jake had another anecdote about filming those scenes with Jen: 'Aniston's husband, Brad Pitt, was good humored about it, says Gyllenhaal. "At one point, I said, `Thank you so much for letting me make out with your wife.' And he said, `Don't worry about it. We can share."'
For those who haven't heard it, here is the famous Wall Incident, as described by Good Girl director Miguel Arteta to the Philadelphia Inquirer in July 2002: '"I saw over a hundred up-and-coming young actors. And it's a hard part, because Holden at first seems like this incredibly attractive, intellectual, brooding hero. But then layer by layer, whoever was going to play him had to reveal a really out-of-control, deranged person. That's a lot of range. We would have these auditions (with) a scene from the beginning and a scene from the end and you could just see actors falling to one side or the other."
'Then Gyllenhaal, who had been shooting another pic, came in to test with Aniston. "We were in Mike White's brand-new house," Arteta says. "We were doing the auditions there with Jennifer, and Jake came in and got into this scene where he had to get angry and he picked up a chair and threw it at Mike's brand-new wall. He put a huge hole in it. Mike was like, `Well, he definitely gets the part, but he better pay me back for my wall.'" (OT: I can't mention Mike now without thinking of the Amazing Race Thailand Fiasco...)
It looks like the Brokeback Mountain opera is back, but now it will be Madrid audiences who will hear the results in 2013. Composer Charles Wuorinen's recent interview makes plain that Annie P has been very closely involved in putting Jack and Ennis' story not only on to the stage but also to music and both the original short story and the film will influence.
'Annie Proulx herself wrote the libretto which is already finished. I feel it does not bear much relation to the film. It has the same characters, but unlike the story, however, women play a slightly bigger part in it, as in the film. But I have not contacted Ang Lee and I have contacted Annie Proulx. I just finished working with her when she came recently to Nueva York to add the last touches.'
Not surprisingly, Ennis will not find his voice as easily as Jack: 'Jack will be a lyric tenor. Ennis is a bass-baritone with several spoken parts. He only sings in some passages. There is a quite marked difference between the two personalities.' 'Q: People who go to the opera are not used to seeing love scenes between men … CW: Well, they will have to get used to it.'
The problem of how to distinguish Jack and Ennis musically is rather intriguing. Instead of the black hat and blue eyes of Jack and the pale hat and brown eyes of Ennis, Jack's emotions can more easily be translated into song, whereas Ennis' voice is not only deeper, it is less musical and mostly spoken not sung.
In a fascinating and quite candid interview Jake Gyllenhaal conducted in 2005 with the Atlanta Journal, Jake revealed: 'I always assumed I would be playing the Ennis part when I read it. And then [Lee] cast me as Jack. It made me see myself more as an open and expressive actor than I've ever been before.' It surprised me, who obviously sees Jake from an entirely different perspective!, that Jake had always assumed he would be Ennis when he is so clearly and brilliantly Jack, not even needing words, just with a look. And Heath, with even fewer words, is Ennis.
This interview isn't available freely so I'll quote some extracts. On the loneliness of filming: 'I guess you could say in a way it was difficult on a movie set, yet at the same time it's also not. It's just inherent. The topography of where we were shooting was pretty isolating. And when I'm really, really, really looking forward to the [real-life rodeo and fair] Calgary Stampede and it's coming in a month and a half, then you know you are pretty isolated. Especially since I grew up in Los Angeles. I didn't even know what a stampede was 'til I was doing this movie. The first two weeks, we were living in trailers right by a river in the middle of nowhere. Flat land for as far as we could see. We shot in one town where it was so windy it had the highest suicide rate in all of Alberta.' [Interesting corrolation between windiness and suicide...]
Nudity: 'I believe if it's toward the story and there's a reason for it, I'll pretty much do almost anything that's not really harmful. Obviously, I was nervous at times, but you gotta get through those things. Got to push through certain fears.'
The sheep: 'Well, they're dirty and they're dumb. And they make you look good though, I gotta say. Especially when you have no experience with them. They pretty much just herd the way you want them to herd. They make you feel very tough and empowered because they are terrified of you. Then again, they are terrified of anything. [Q: They also make you look good because, like you did in the movie, you can put a little lamb in a sack attached to your saddle. It makes you look caring and rugged at the same time.] Jake: (Laughing) That was actually written in the script. But it does, and that may be the intention --- caring and simultaneously rugged.'
The aggressive love scenes: 'I think that's the thing that's really interesting about this movie. You know, the difference between the fight scenes and the love scenes are kind of . . . like in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," when there's a fight scene everybody is so eager to say, "Oh, it's so beautiful. They're like love scenes." But with "Brokeback," some people who see it haven't been able to go there completely yet --- you know, a love scene like a fight scene. But the love scenes really were like that. They were really aggressive and that happened [Ledger almost breaking his nose] by the stairs. And it's written that way, you know. It's like they grab each other and squeeze the air out of each other. And say, "Son of a [expletive]." It got rough. It just got rough. I think it was a kind of place where both Heath and I felt more comfortable going. We know how to fight. So that was easier for us.'
'[Q: Talk a little more about what's behind the aggressiveness.] Jake: These characters are just full of ambiguity. I don't think there's one clear way of putting it, you know? The whole movie is filled with questions. What really happened with my character? What were the intentions at the beginning? Were they drunk? Is it they are just lonely? I couldn't answer that really.'
Jarhead, Proof and Zodiac: 'When Sam cast me for "Jarhead," I think he recognized a real aggression in me. Just pieces of my personality that I don't think had ever been seen before. And it changed my life. And with John [Madden, who directed "Proof"], I think he recognized a kind of older attitude in me than I thought I had at the time [that allowed me to] play against Gwyneth. Also, I was really bad at math and he made me feel like I was good at math... "Zodiac" was a place I was scared to go to. I mean, it's a scary story. It's a true story and the themes of it kind of freaked me out. It's such a seedy world. It scared me. And I wanted to go to that place and see what it was like and how scary it was. The movie itself is just totally, completely terrifying, and I've never made a movie like that before.'
Talking of sheep, thank heavens this didn't happen: 'According to actor Jake Gyllenhaal, director Ang Lee was going to delete a scene in which Gyllenhaal and co-star Heath Ledger kissed because the filmmaker felt 'two men herding sheep was far more sexual than two men having sex on screen.''
The Independent today reported that Annie Proulx has told the Wall Street Journal of her 'irritation' with Brokeback Mountain: "There are countless people out there who think the story is open range to explore their fantasies and to correct what they see as an unbearably disappointing story. They constantly send ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites of the story to me, expecting me to reply with praise and applause for 'fixing' the story. They certainly don't get the message that if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it. Brokeback Mountain has had little effect on my writing life, but is the source of constant irritation in my private life."
This story is moving around the internet and in places is being described as Annie Proulx's irritation, not just with Brokeback Mountain but with the fans of the short story and the film. As one of those fans, and as a reader of slash, I suffer conflicted feelings at such a statement from the author of the story that has changed my life. I can certainly understand that for an author to be sent slash reinterpretations, rewrites of your own story - presented as improvements - must be insufferable. And, as Annie says, this does miss the point of the original story.
However, the very fact that Annie has been sent these 'ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites' is sign that people have been moved to create and they have been inspired. I would argue that they shouldn't have sent their writings to Annie herself, but the act of writing a contented ending for Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar is driven by affection for the characters created for us and given to us by Annie, as well as a need to know that, no matter what life throws at you, it can be all right. Maybe, as well as irritation, Annie should also feel flattered.
I think that more than that, the statement that made me stop and think was this: 'Brokeback Mountain has had little effect on my writing life'. The genius of Annie Proulx to have been the source and creator in sparse but perfect words a story that went to the heart of so many of us, and yet she herself appears to have survived its telling little affected. Maybe that's because we took it on ourselves to feel it all.
Elsewhere today, another writer - poet and friend of Andy Warhol - is featured in the San Francisco Bay Guardian to mark Mead's brief visit to the city after many years. It also reminds the reader of the poet's taste for Jake Gyllenhaal - 'Jake, be mine, be mine, be mine' - as captured in this video:
An interview with Peter
There is an interview with Peter Sarsgaard as he prepares to take Broadway by storm in The Seagull. There is much to enjoy here, as always with Peter's interviews - as usual wit and commonsense are combined - but there is some fun at the expense of his surname and that of his lady and friend:
'Q: After the SNL appearance, has it become difficult for even you to say your last name the right way? Peter: You mean without a pirate accent? My name has always seemed very normal to me. And it’s not hard to say. It’s phonetic. Whereas Gyllenhaal, for example, it’s perfectly understandable that you wouldn’t come out with that. Q: Yeah, it’s sort of like, “Buy a vowel!” Peter: I mean, there’s loads of consonants right in a row at the beginning—G-Y-L-L, still no vowel. The double a at the end is just to let you relax after going through all those consonants.'
This also interested me: 'Q: Did you do anything to prepare for your big make-out scene with Liam Neeson in Kinsey? Peter: We did a movie together called K-19: The Widowmaker. That’s how we prepared for it. You know, it’s funny. You constantly end up in strange situations with people as an actor—and you just do it. God knows they’re paying you enough. Q: But as a straight guy, wasn’t it hard to go through with it? Peter: It wasn’t as hard as, say, running around with all my gear on in Jarhead. I’d rather go for an awkward moment than physical exertion any day. The only thing that I think [male actors] get freaked out about when they have to do something like kiss a guy in a movie—when to their knowledge they’re straight—is that they’re afraid they’re going to be turned on. And if you’re not afraid that you’re going to be turned on—meaning that you know what you like—then really it’s not that hard.' Thanks to IHJ for the great new old pics of Jake and Peter in NYC in 2006.
And finally...
A look at a fantastic fan-made poster for prince of Persia from the Superhero Hype forums. I love this, although, when the official poster finally appear, I want Jake himself to be seen on skyhigh billboards.
Annie Proulx has published a new collection of short stories from the west: 'Many of the stories in Fine Just the Way It Is are breathtaking in their cool depiction of the hardships of that life and the astonishing amount of stubborn resolve it takes to survive it — or just try to.'
'They are also often breathtaking in their descriptions of the harsh beauty of the landscape, utterly indifferent to humans but irresistible to those who fall in love with its canyons and peaks, its soaring skies and singing rivers. For some of Proulx's characters, that love of the wild land is deeper than anything they feel for other people.'
Back in 2005, Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Ang Lee and the rest of the Brokeback crew took their film to Toronto, where it received a rapturous and deeply emotional welcome. Jake was also there to promote Proof, but it was Brokeback Mountain that Jake still talks about. Also there in 2005 was Gavin Hood, winning the People's Choice award for Tsotsi. The screening of Brokeback took place in Toronto almost three years ago exactly, on September 10. But one year ago today, on 7 September, Jake and Gavin (and Peter) were back in Toronto to present Rendition, on what was without doubt one of the days in my life I will remember always.
Here is a link (which hopefully works...) to the press conference that took place in my hotel, Sutton Place, during which we were waiting outside to see Jake and were not disappointed. We were also lucky enough to have seats in the theatre and to see Jake and all the others take their places, not to mention having them walk past us in the foyer.
These two interviews are a curiosity to me, because they are by the same interviewer - the first interview was back in 2005 and the second in 2007 (with a hot in more ways than one Jake) for Rendition.
I also enjoyed this anecdote from Toronto (unfortunately the link has now gone but I saved it here) and E! Online: ''Jake Gyllenhaal Is a Backpacker: Don't know what that means? It's a term used to describe die-hard hip-hop fans, and I call him that because he told me he is loving the new Talib Kweli album right now. Our interview for his latest film, Rendition (costarring Reese Witherspoon), got really intense because, let's face it, it's about a suspected terrorist who's detained and tortured. To lighten the mood, I asked Jake if he still had the Indigo Girls on his iPod, something he told me several years back. Didn't see that one coming, did ya!'
Includes picture from IHJ and WDW. A big hello and wave here to the three people with whom I was fortunate enough to share the whole wonderful experience, a year ago today. How time flies!
