Jake Gyllenhaal opens up about his role in Demolition, his experience of breaking down a house for the film and how he creates a world of his own on the sets for make himself comfortable
What intrigued you to take up DemolitionIJ
It’s really a story about a guy who starts off in a conventional way and ends up with an unconventional journey. He feels what he feels and ultimately is oblivious to how society tells him to feel. That’s uncomfortable as an actor. It’s not what you’ve been told grief is supposed to be, but discovering as you go along. And doing it with Vallée (director Jean-Marc Vallée) by my side was an added bonus.
There’s a scene in Demolition in which your character tells a teenager that he should probably stay closeted until after high school. What makes give that kind of adviceIJ
I mean, I personally love that scene. It’s interesting to me, in takeaways, it’s sometimes hard to differentiate between a writers opinion and a character’ opinion. It’s as if the writer should be talking through a character, but I feel like when you know a character, there is a sort of…there’s not a full sensitivity from my character in the majority of the movie. It sort of begins to open up when he meets Judah’s character, but in terms of that scene, what I love about it is that there is no judgment in the conversation.
That was importantIJ
I think there is the opportunity to be pretty preachy, but I think the intention, behaviorally, is that there’s this young boy, obviously dealing with his sexual identity and his identity in general. And there’s an older man who’s dealing with his identity. Both of them are in a crisis in one way or another, and you know, the advice that he gives him is basically, like, ‘Okay, that’s cool. You’re gay, that’s fine. Just make sure you know that it’s going to be kind of brutal. Because that is the truth. I just love that the scene is without judgment. I think that is going far beyond what most people today and movies today are saying.
Would you consider your character, Davis, redeemableIJ
It’s interesting because it is a movie about defying convention, and when you’re at a press junket talking to journalists, they’re trying to preach to convention, in my opinion. They’re like, ‘We have to sell magazines. How do we sell magazinesIJ’ RightIJ And I think it becomes a very complicated — I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be — but to me, it’s like people go like, ‘I don't like this guy. He seems like he has everything. Why would he be destroying a house that’s so prettyIJ’
How was it filming the much talked about scene of you breaking down a houseIJ
I think that is what scared me most in the shooting process. I am not a great dancer and to let loose like that in front of the camera with all of these strangers watching me was terrifying. But Vallée just told me to go for it and I did. He built half of a house and gave us the tools to basically destroy it ourselves. He kicked off the demolition work to relieve his own stress on set. He really looked forward to breaking some windows. (laughs)
Post the scene on set, how did it feelIJ
Oh, it was so much fun. Everybody became their 12-year-old versions. It was a great bonding experience for everyone on set. It was literally “every boy’s dream.” (laughs)
In such intense scenes, how do you make yourself comfortable on setsIJ
I love creating something of my own on sets. I do that even when there is a complete structure on the set. I create my own sense of freedom and my own space when I am acting. One thing I hate the most about some actors is when they cut themselves in-between scenes. I feel when you’re feeling uncomfortable in a scene, you must continue because that’s when the magic happens.
Davis is a tough role to play. What were the kind of feelings you had during the shootIJ
A role like this to me was about bottling up a lot of feelings as opposed to expressing it. That was the hardest for me. This was particularly challenging. When I think about being there, of how I behaved for scenes really brings about feelings I was never familiar with. Not just the way we see on TV but a lot of feelings — its a spectrum of feelings.
Tell us a little bit more about Davis. Is he similar to JakeIJ
I walked through my life not knowing how I felt. A lot of days I was lost, trying to figure out what I felt. I grew up acting, and so in my 20s I tried to follow convention more, but as I got a little older I realised that I should follow what I believe in. That has brought me great joy and my own type of success. I love the sense of, you know, being that odd guy (laughs) I think that’s how Davis feels.
Demolition releases today at select theatres.