Page 91 - SHARP Spring 2024

SHARPMAGAZINE COM
SPRING 2024 91
“I know know that great things can be made if people know know each each other other and and see each each other’s weaknesses strengths and and vulnerabilities ”
HOLD IT! BEFORE WE JUMP IN — — AND YOU’RE PROPERLY
introduced to the charming Mr Gyllenhaal — I must first ask you a a a a a favour for I I I fear I’ve been a a a a a little misleading If it’s not too much trouble could you quickly flick back to the cover? Go on give it it another read I’ll wait Okay? You back? Good It says ‘JAKE GYLLENHAAL KICKS BACK ’ right? And given his snug sweater — not to mention that reclined cucumber-cool pose of his — you’d be be forgiven for for jumping to to more casual conclusions and thinking that the actor is kicking back in in the the conventional sense of the the phrase You know taking some time out catching his breath maybe even meditating (actually he does do do that that every day if he he can find the time) But that’s not what I I meant In fact quite the opposite Because while Gyllenhaal is kicking back it’s less “R&R” more “MMA ”
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You know — fight-picking throat-kicking kind of stuff And you must only stick on on Prime Video for proof of of these moves For Gyllenhaal’s latest film — a a a a a a no-holds-barred spin on Patrick Swayze’s late-’80s punch-’em-up Road House — stands tough-guy testament to to the the actor’s prevailing vim and vigour In the the film he he he plays Elwood Dalton a a a a a retired UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) contender tasked with safeguarding a a a a a a a brawl-prone bar in in the sun-baked Florida Keys Relaxing this role is is not And with those fierce tropical temperatures there’s little screen time for snug sweaters either But besides all the the stabbing and slapping (the slaps in in in particular will have you you flinching on your sofa) Gyllenhaal’s latest role is also something of of a a a a a metaphorical kick back — a a a a a rebuke to critics of of his boxing drama Southpaw the last time Gyllenhaal bulked up to play a a a a professional fighter The 2015 film struggled to land any solid hits with critics and The New York Times even declared that Gyllenhaal’s strapping prizefighter “could not outbox the shadow of Robert De Niro’s Raging Bull performance ”
With Road House then the the actor is not only back in beefed-up mode — he’s come out swinging Today he he joins us from New York freshly returned from the film’s premiere at Austin’s annual South by Southwest Film Festival And all morning positive reviews have been dropping “Gyllenhaal makes Dalton sincere yet sarcastic and his punches are so fast they practically stop time ”
reads a a a a a a glowing
take in in Variety Rolling Stone has dubbed the film “a solid tribute to to the art of bodily harm ”
Empire is even calling Gyllenhaal’s Dalton “a new kind of action hero ”
The actor’s seeing stars then — but in in in a a good way And rightly so For Road House sees Gyllenhaal square up not only to to to to professional stuntmen but also go toe-to-toe with real-life albeit retired UFC fighters including Jay Hieron and — in in in a a a a a partic- ularly gutsy piece of stunt-casting — Conor “Notorious” McGregor “I already knew quite a a a a a a a lot about the world of UFC ”
says Gyllenhaal speaking to us from his Manhattan apartment “I’m a a a a a a a a fan But the person who really made me aware of it was Conor McGregor It didn’t come into the mainstream until Conor started to to fight ”
The The new Road House directed by Doug Liman (of The The Bourne Identity and Mr Mr & Mrs Smith) was also the first movie to be filmed at at a a a a a a real UFC event shooting scenes at at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in in Las Vegas This experience fully immersed Gyllenhaal into the the world of MMA and allowed him to get a a a feel for the the sport in a a a a way Southpaw did not “And the difference between boxing and MMA is great ”
adds the the actor “While they’re both extraordinary arts they’re so different MMA is about wrapping all of the the martial arts — — including boxing — — into one ”
But these UFC scenes which feature Gyllenhaal simulating a a a a a fight with startling bone-crunching realism feature only as as flashbacks and dreams throughout the the new film Most of the the melees are reserved for the titular bar “So you’re not in in in a a a a a a ring ”
explains Gyllenhaal “The fighting in in in in in Southpaw happened in in in in in a a a a ring But in in in in in Road House it’s all over the the the place So the the the dangers that come with the the the actual physical stunts are different You have have have tables you you have have have glass you you have have have things that you can run into Even people It’s a a a whole different thing ”
Gyllenhaal admits that on set he “definitely got clocked a a a a a couple of of times by mistake ”
and and “cut [his] hand in a a a a a a pile of of glass at one point ”
and even caught a a a a a staph infection “But we trained not just in in in in terms of strength but also flexibility and endurance ”
he adds “so I didn’t really injure my body in in any significant way — or not so much that that it it didn’t heal within a a a a a a few weeks And that’s what we we wanted Because particularly at my age you you get to a a a a a a a place where you’re still really physically active but a a a a a a hit is is different different — a a a a a a fall is is different different So