"Source Code" Spoilers - Jake Gyllenhaal Interviews

Spanish Poster of "Source Code" (2011)

"Source Code" *SPOILERS*:

Where Does The Source Code Take Place?
So the Source Code is a government computer program that allows Gyllenhaal's Captain Colter Stevens to jump into another man's body — a guy named Sean Fentressis, who died in a terrorist train bombing — to experience the final eight minutes of his life in an attempt to prevent the terrorist from detonating a second bomb. But is what Gyllenhaal experiences just a computer simulation? Or is it actually real?

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"The idea is that it's a simulator, but it actually opens up access to a parallel reality", Jones explained. "It literally creates new realities where things can happen in very different ways. Every time Colter is sent into the Source Code, they're creating a new reality where a new terrorist event occurs. So in a sense, every time Colter fails, they actually created a new terrorist event."

Why'd They Make The Terrorist a Lone Gunman?As Gyllenhaal searches the train for the bomber, he finds himself engaging in more than a little bit of racial profiling. As it turns out, the true culprit is not some clichéd terrorist ripped from an old "24" script, but a lone gunman type who wants to bring about a new world order. The upside of such a storytelling choice is it avoids coloring the film with political baggage. The downside is the revelation of the terrorist is a bit of a letdown: He's just some random dude with a grudge.

According to Jones, though, the choice of the terrorist was another chance for "Source Code" to play with audience expectations. "That was the fun of the script," he said. "Colter Stevens makes these assumptions based on what you would assume is the obvious choice. There are lots of great red herrings — you think it's this person, you think it's that person. And to make it an obvious choice, in a way, would lack the punch of where we go."

What About the Paradox at the End?
As the plot wraps up, Colter, who we've learned is being held at the Source Code facility, ends up not only preventing the second bombing but also the original one on the train. He permanently ends up in Fentressis' body, and no terrorist event ever comes to pass. That sets up a classic time-travel paradox of which Jones was well aware.
"The idea that Colter Stevens, by going into this parallel reality and stopping the bomb going off, means that he was never sent on a mission in the first place," the director said. "In that reality, he must still exist at the facility. For sci-fi geeks like myself, that was a paradox I needed to address."
"He's seeing flashes of this surreal experience that he can't figure out," Jones explained. "Over the course of the film, he sees more and more until eventually, he's coming to recognize this potential future where he's able to get out of the train and experience a life beyond those eight minutes."
Will There Be a Sequel?
While the movie hardly qualifies as a blockbuster — it grossed $15 million over its opening weekend — Gyllenhaal sees a lot of room for a sequel.

"I think it'd be fascinating if Sean Fentressis is somebody that [the government] wanted to find," he said. "Because it opens up a number of stories that are fascinating to me. To me, there really is no ending to this movie — and that's what's so cool about it." Source: www.mtv.com

-You won an award for your performance in the London revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth. Did your stage work influence your approach to Source Code?

-Yes! I would often do six or seven pages of script in that pod by myself. I’d play a whole scene out, then director Duncan Jones would let me go right back in. So it wasn’t about gathering pieces, it was more like theatre. I felt very empowered as an actor, as you would on stage.
-So even within the repetitive scenes you found variations?

-To free up the actor’s instrument, you have to give yourself permission to feel you don’t have to hit a mark or the same result and you’ll get somewhere fascinating if you just let yourself go free. Every actor is different. Some actors like to know they have to hit a bull’s eye – but I’m not one of those actors.

-I hear you were responsible for bringing Jones on board.
-I had a relationship with one of the producers, who sent me Ben Riley’s script, which was an amazing read. But I also thought its success would depend on the director, and I immediately thought of Duncan. He and I had a general meeting about a part he wanted me to play in another movie. As we were saying goodbye I said, “There’s a script you might be interested in,” and he said, “Okay, cool, send it to me.” I thought he’d never want to do it, but five days later he said, “I’m in.”

-Did the theatre vibe you felt while working on Source Code also extend to your fellow actors?
When you make a movie like this, a smaller film you’ve kind of been championing from the beginning, and certain things go your way – like getting Duncan, and the casting of Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright, who created my favourite character on stage in Angels in America, and Michelle Monaghan, who is a really reactive actor – people will often say, “Oh this is a star-driven vehicle.” But I reject that notion, because I really felt part of a company of actors making this movie. Which was so important because, more than the explosions and action, Source Code is really about character". Source: www.theglobeandmail.com

Watch the video: Jake Gyllenhaal’s surprise appearance on Weekend Update. Andy Samberg co-stars in the skit as Nicolas Cage.