WEIRDLAND: Edward Zwick talks about Jake Gyllenhaal in Love & other drugs

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Edward Zwick talks about Jake Gyllenhaal in Love & other drugs

"Gyllenhall’s character, Jamie Randall, is a philanderer and smooth talker who doesn’t live up to his millionaire brother, or physician father and sister. Hathaway plays Maggie Murdoch, whose early Parkinson’s diagnosis drives her to fear her own mortality and to push people from her life.“I didn’t want to do a standard romantic comedy, something that was contrived so it was about finding the right story,” Zwick said. “And more than that, it was about finding the right actors.”
Though audiences have seen powerful performances from Gyllenhaal, such as his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain, Zwick thinks he’s still coming into his prowess as an actor.
“There is a moment in every actor’s life when those things come together,” he said. “There is a moment in every young man’s life, not necessarily when you’re 24 or 28. Sometimes you have to get a three in front of their age before everything starts to function and they fire on all cylinders. I think it’s happening and very abundant and clear in the film.”
Jake Gyllenhaal as Jamie Randall and Anne Hathaway as Maggie Murdock in "Love and other drugs" (2010)

Though billed as a romantic comedy, the film does exactly what Zwick wants and detours from typical contrived conventions, and detours into more serious territory as the bond between Gyllenhaal and Hathaway’s characters deepens. Zwick credits life as inspiration for their performances.
“Everyone goes through things. Annie had this relationship that was traumatic.
Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal dining in Paris, France on 14th March 2009

Jake was deeply in love with someone that had two children and it ended, and these things mark you. They have an effect on your soul and your instrument, and it’s happened to both of them.”
“When I was 30, I got married,” Zwick said. “And within two weeks, my mother died. I think it pertains to this movie, that is has the word and in it. Sometimes the best thing happens, but the worst thing happens as well. It’s not just — it’s and.” Source: blastmagazine.com

2 comments :

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Hi Kendra...
è sempre bello vedere le foto di Jake :)
... condivido il pensiero di E. Zwick su Jake...
L'amore che si perde, lascia sempre dentro di noi un profondo solco che non andrà più via, neanche con un nuovo grande amore.
Questa volta è toccato a Jake di soffrire... ma chissà che prima o poi, non tocchi anche a Reese... dal tronde un proverbio italiano dice:
" Chi la fà, l'aspetti !! ".
Buona giornata e grazie di darci sempre tante notizie sul nostro amato Jake !!!

Elena said...

that's a nice proverb, Rosa, "Chi la fà, l'aspetti", "What goes around, comes around" in English.
I have to agree with Mr. Zwick about how sometimes the cinema reflects real life events, and the actors' turmoils, I always thought Jake looked so happy and goofy during his romance with Kirsten Dunst (and we can see his youthful romantic side in "Moonlight Mile" and "The Day After Tomorrow" during that time)

have a good weekend!!