Earning even more Method points for bulking up straight after slimming down for Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal throws everything he’s got into the ring, delivering a knockout performance.
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He continued, “I’m trying to be present where I am”.
Fuqua and Gyllenhaal trained side-by-side twice a day, (nearly) every day for months with Claybon. The AMC Livonia had a preview showing of the movie before it hits theaters commercially on Friday.
Boxing has afforded Billy, wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams), and their preteen daughter, Leila (Oona Lawrence), the kind of lavish lifestyle that requires a steady flow of cash to maintain. “It’s about fighting for your family”, Gyllenhaal said. It isn’t until reality truly knocks Hope down does he realize he needs to soon get back on his feet or all could be lost.
“Southpaw” follows the rise, fall and eventual redemption of prizefighter Billy Hope, played by the 34-year-old actor. “I think he has an ability to really connect with his actors and to create a world for them and he goes into that world with you”. “Because we ultimately don’t have a say – but we do have a say in how we approach it and how we respond to it”. And over the course of shooting some punches inevitably connected.
“We shot the fight sequences the first two and a half weeks of filming”. “It’s like dance in a way. He’s able to take on her feelings and hold them for her and then not lash out”, he said.
As he remembers the action, Gyllenhaal starts speaking in the cadence of a ringside announcer.
“Knowing that I would probably get hit, I came to terms with those things”. ‘And she said it’s all about love. “Just the way he was jumping rope, I knew we had a lot of work to do”. “If it looks like magic, you’re doing it the right way”, said Gyllenhaal.
“There’s a fine line [about having a craft and a technique, but] you have to know that these things are done with preparation”.
Now 34, Gyllenhaal has been on a roll in recent years.
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It isn’t the first time that The Brokeback Mountain star has dramatically changed his physique for a role, but he maintains that it’s always done “with a watchful eye of an expert”.
