"I played their original side-scrolling version of the game when I was a kid," laughed 29-year-old Gyllenhaal recently, remembering his first encounter with "The Prince of Persia." "And then I took a little hiatus." On May 28, Gyllenhaal will portray Prince Dastan in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", the first video game movie ever to be written by the father of the game — in this case, Jordan Mechner, who introduced "Prince of Persia" on the Apple II computer in 1989. "I was actually kind of tripping out on that with Jordan the other day," Gyllenhaal said of portraying a character he once could only play with a controller in his hand. "I was saying to him, Who knew when I was playing it — after I closed out 'Oregon Trail' and went over to my 'Prince of Persia' game when I was I don't know how old, maybe 8 or something — who knew I would be playing the Prince of Persia? It's kind of awesome." Jake Gyllenhaal - 'Prince of Persia' Facebook Q & A (Video #2)
"The reason why most video games movies haven't been successful up until now is the fact that most of the action that takes place is stuff that we've seen before [in the game], but hasn't had a reason in the story line that makes sense," Gyllenhaal explained. "So, in this movie we decided that everything the prince did in the movie had to have a reason. If he were going to jump on a wall and run over to get away from somebody, or he's going to jump from building to building, there had to be an obstacle. It had to be based on something that he had learned, or based in the story line.
"Most of the time you just see really cool stunts and people doing really cool things, but you don't know why", explained Gyllenhaal, who has flat-out said that there's never been a good video game movie made. "[Our action] all ties back into the ultimate story." Source: www.mtv.com
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Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning and Taylor Lautner.
Q: So, Dakota, Cherie Currie said there was a moment you felt like it was fate intervening for you to get this role? DF: Yes! I had a cherry temporary tattoo that I had put on for fun that day, and I came home from school, and my mom was reading the script, and she said, "You need to read this." I always try to get more information from her before I read anything, but she never tells me much -- she doesn't want to bias my opinion -- so the only thing she would say is that the girl I would play had a tattoo just like that, so I was like, "Wow!" It was just a little thing where it's a sign that it was meant to be.
Q: Did you get much help from Joan Jett and Cherie Currie to prep for the film? DF: Cherie, the mike move she does during "Cherry Bomb"? She taught me that so I could do it, too.
KS: That was crazy. I had never seen that before. Yeah, they filled us in on little stuff that was probably random but gave us a sense of what it was like to live back then. It was good that they were around, we needed them to fill in the blanks, but we also saw the videos they've got of themselves when they were younger, so we got a lot from that.DF: And they were in the studio with us. I was definitely nervous, but the only way to rerecord the songs would be if I had the voice to do it, so I was thrown in the studio and we recorded the songs, and that's what you hear in the movie. I thought I'd be recording them a bunch of times, not just the first few times and that's it. But that was probably good, because that's how they recorded them. They were just thrown in and just did it a couple of times. KS: Joan was helping me be better at guitar. She's pretty good. She's got a really unique connection to the music, the way it comes out of her. She was telling me -- and this is the only way to describe it, and I've said it before, but it's the only way that feels right -- she says you have to fuck your guitar. I'm sorry, I don't know how else to say it! [Laughs]
Q: How did spending time with them help you develop your roles?
DF: I think when you know a character well, you know what to do. Cherie, she was a completely different person onstage than she was off stage. And still to this day, she's kept that vulnerability and innocence. And Cherie's become my friend, so that makes you want to be the best you can at this for them. Kristen Stewart and Joan Jett.
KS: Joan has no regrets, I know she doesn't, and that was huge to her. Everything in your life makes you who you are, and she's really loving life right now. I've never seen anybody walk into a room that completely confident, and she doesn't even realize that other people might not be like that, too. It's not overcompensations. She's not trying to be a certain way. And to see them interact now, together, that was really helpful, too, because they turn into the people they were then, and they still really love each other. It's hard to describe. It's such a unique friendship and they relied on each other so strongly, and it's like you add a kiss to something and suddenly it makes it like, "Oh. My. God. They love each other and they are lesbians!" They kissed one night, no big deal. They're just really close. Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning as Joan and Cherie in "The Runaways".
Q: For some people, this might be their introduction to who the Runaways were and what they meant to rock and roll.
DF: I think probably for the younger audiences, and maybe that will lead them to go back and listen to the music or watch Live in Japan. I didn't know who the Runaways were when I first read the script. KS: Oh, man. If we didn't tell this story right, since this is the version of the Runaways story that people my age would know about, that thought drove me crazy. When you care about something so much, it's scary. Usually if the movie isn't good or it doesn't turn out the way you thought, that's the way it goes. But this? We didn't have any other options. The guilt I would have harbored for the rest of my life? It would turn my stomach. It would be horrible. Source: www.filmcritic.com
Jake Gyllenhaal attening 'Prince of Persia' Press Conference - WonderCon 2010 on 3rd April 2010.
"While promoting Prince of Persia at WonderCon over the weekend, Jake Gyllenhaal mentioned that he is currently filming a science fiction movie called Source Code with Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright and that it is going to “blow our minds.” I don’t know that much else about the film, except that it’s directed by Duncan Jones. But frankly, that’s enough for me. Duncan Jones with his father Davie Bowie at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for the exhibition of Moon. Photo by David Shankbone.
Jones is the son of David Bowie. Far more pertinently, he directed Moon, a Sam Rockwell-starring head trip of a homage to early ’70s sci-fi and, in my opinion, last year’s most tragically underseen movie (you can check out the trailer after the break). The less you know about Moon before you see it, the more fun you’re going to have — suffice to say that Rockwell very much earns his money, and in more ways than one. If Source Code is anywhere near as good then I’ll be a very happy bunny. (And if it’s even as half as good as the Gyllenhaal-starring, giant bunny-featuring head trip Donnie Darko then I’ll be even happier.) Source: popwatch.ew.com
"Not a month ago Graff revealed to MTV News his grand plans for a big-screen remake of the Faustian "Damn Yankees" staring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jim Carrey, including plans to update the central story of a baseball fan who sells his soul to Beelzebub with a new focus on steroids.
"Man, this is–- this has been a conversation I don't know why I keep having," Gyllenhaal told MTV's Larry Carroll when asked about the project this past weekend at WonderCon in San Francisco. "I've definitely been fascinated by that musical for a very long time, but I guess it's still in development. Still being worked out. We'll see."
In the meantime, the former "Brokeback"'d one wishes to assure you that if and when it DOES come time to patrol the ivy covered walls of Wrigley Field (updated from the Washington Senators in Graff's take on the story), the once and future "Prince of Persia" is more than up to the song and dance challenge. Mostly.Jake Gyllenhaal at MTV TRL UK on 28th May 2004 in London.
"Yeah, I mean look man, I have been singing since I was a little kid. It's something I've done alongside acting–- probably singing longer than I was acting so I am confident in that," Gyllenhaal laughed. "My dancing, not so much. [But then] I never thought I'd swordfight either."
Jake Gyllenhaal at 'Prince of Persia' Panel at WonderCon 2010
"Jake Gyllenhaal loves comedy. The 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' actor insists he wants to make more movies that do not take themselves seriously, because it is such a challenging genre to get right. He said: "Comedy is really what I enjoy the most. And it's what I find hardest. Earnest is f**king easy.
"Finding the comedy in a situation is always the hardest thing, and I think as an actor you should always try and find the hardest thing." Despite claiming to find comedy difficult, Jake had no difficulty getting laughs with his 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time' co-star Gemma Arterton, which she claims is because they forged such a good friendship off camera.
She explained: "We have this kind of banter anyway, as Jake and Gemma. So that kind of transfers to the characters. There's a lot of witty remarks, cutting each other down." Source: www.contactmusic.com
"I sat down with Jake on Saturday to talk about his gaming habits, his thoughts on the 3D craze taking over the film industry today, and his transformation into a hunky action-adventure star.Jake Gyllenhaal in Hitfix.com - WonderCon Interview, on 3rd April 2010.
On what drew him to Prince of Persia:There are a lot of things. One was the character, 'cause for me, whenever I choose a movie it's the character. I thought — at least as it was written — [Prince Dasdan] was wry and funny and had a good time, but at the same time kicked some ass. But then I also like the idea that it was based on a video game. I like to do things that people have tried their hand at and haven't succeeded. Maybe it's a riskier thing to do, but I like that. And I knew that there would be a huge audience of people that I would be trying to appease and that kinda turned me on too. And we're bringing it to younger kids, kids who have never played the video game before and never experienced it. On whether he's played the original Prince of Persia, and if he's a gamer: I have played it, but I'm not a gamer in general. I definitely have had my fun on the Wii. Being an actor you have a lot of time on your hands in between set-ups and things so there's always the opportunity on set. A portable gaming device is always fun. I played a lot of video games when I was a kid. I really loved Metroid when I was a kid. I played that game all the time. Zelda was super dope and it may have been one of my favorites only because the casing was gold. I'm not really sure actually if it was the journey of it or that the casing was gold but I loved that game, and traditional things like the classic Super Mario Bros. and Mike Tyson's Punchout. How he feels about 3D in the film industry: Well, I think it's all about intention. Like Jim Cameron made Avatar, and his intention was to use 3D. Subsequently I think people have tried to join the bandwagon without understanding the creative side of what 3D is. Whenever you have a tool, I think someone should become proficient in that tool. I don't think you just add it to your arsenal and be like "I know how to do this." Regardless, Avatar wouldn't be as amazing as Avatar is — although it's extraordinary on a visual level — without a great story. And I think storytelling has lasted thousands of years as a result of the fact that twists, and turns, and unexpected things happen in stories that blow people's minds, and that's what lasts. We want to tell a great story — 2D, 3D, a great story is a great story. On if he's caught the action genre bug, and if he liked doing his own stunts: I kinda am, yeah. I kinda am. I was [excited to do my own stunts], I mean that's the reason to do it. You're making a movie based on a video game, It's gonna be physical, and if you don't do it, how lame is that? I really had to ask myself, "Are you ready for this? Would you learn how to do Parkour, would you learn how to sword fight for real?" And I tried to be game for everything. I really tried to be. And I was. I did it even though sometimes I didn't succeed at it all the time, I tried each one of the things". Source: www.geeksugar.com
On May 28, Gyllenhaal will portray Prince Dastan in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", the first video game movie ever to be written by the father of the game — in this case, Jordan Mechner, who introduced "Prince of Persia" on the Apple II computer in 1989. "I was actually kind of tripping out on that with Jordan the other day," Gyllenhaal said of portraying a character he once could only play with a controller in his hand. "I was saying to him, Who knew when I was playing it — after I closed out 'Oregon Trail' and went over to my 'Prince of Persia' game when I was I don't know how old, maybe 8 or something — who knew I would be playing the Prince of Persia? It's kind of awesome."
Jake Gyllenhaal - 'Prince of Persia' Facebook Q & A (Video #2)
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