Jake Gyllenhaal laughs with embarrassment as he tells me about the first time he met boxing coach Terry Claybon.
The young actor had been hired to play fictional boxer Billy Hope in Antoine Fuqua's bruising drama, Southpaw, and Claybon – who trained Denzel Washington when he starred as real-life boxer Rubin Carter in 1999's The Hurricane – wanted to see him shadowbox.
“I was like, ‘Oh [no]’,” says Gyllenhaal. As he weakly punched the air, Claybon’s jaw dropped. “He let me do it for, maybe, like, a minute-and-a- half – it felt like an eternity – and then he was like, ‘Hell no!’”
Fortunately, Fuqua had faith in Gyllenhaal, and the actor repaid it in spades.
For months, he completed twice-daily training sessions in the gym, went on runs and sparred with professionals. Such was his focus on the role that his relationship with his girlfriend Alyssa Miller fell apart.
The result Gyllenhaal achieves is not only impressive in its right but, when viewed alongside his emaciated appearance in last year's Nightcrawler, it is astonishing. Ripped and nimble, his Billy Hope looks like he could stand his ground against any real-life middleweight.
Anger is Hope's strength – and his weakness. Inside the ring, it makes him unbeatable. Outside, it is his downfall. This fascinated Gyllenhaal, who played a United States Marine in 2005's Jarhead at a time in his life when he constantly felt like, "I wanted to punch my first through a wall".
The 34-year-old remains fascinated by where his anger comes from, and saw playing Hope as a way to explore it safely.
“I’m very curious about what sets me off,” he says. “Sometimes it’s baffling to me. I wonder what those feelings are and I’m interested in them.”
Gyllenhaal doesn’t think of himself as an angry man. He had a privileged childhood in LA, where he and his actress sister Maggie were raised by a film-director father and screenwriter mother, surrounded by colourful industry folk.
One day, Paul Newman took Jake around a racing track, which later got turned by journalists into a story about the Hollywood legend teaching him to drive. “My father really taught me how to drive and he’s getting a really bum rap,” Gyllenhaal once told me.
He concedes that he enjoyed privilege as a child – but “no one”, he says, “had a great childhood, no matter what they say. Even though we all pretend that we want to go back and be children again, I don’t think we would really want to”.
He finds acting to be therapeutic, and looks for material that will take him “to places that are challenging, even for yourself ... I like the idea that you can use your work to make you go, ‘Wow, I never really saw the world this way. I sat wherever I sat in my place, having some sort of judgement, and now I no longer have that’”.
For a while, he stopped listening to himself and lost his way in his career. In 2009, his parents divorced, and he took stock of where he was.
“I was a little unclear about what I wanted to say and how I wanted to even just live my life and where I wanted to be,” he says.
He moved to New York, closer to the world of theatre, which he loves, and shifted his focus to independent films. In 2012, the gritty cop thriller End of Watch marked the beginning of what is becoming a golden period for Gyllenhaal. Films such as the doppelganger head-scratcher Enemy, and the disturbing crime drama Prisoners, hark back to the days before he dabbled in blockbusters such as The Day After Tomorrow and Prince of Persia, and could do something weirder like Donnie Darko.
Scaling down and working with more collaborative filmmakers who give him room to be creative has resulted in some of Gyllenhaal’s finest performances to date.
“There’s been a real artistic freedom,” he says, “particularly with the last number of directors I’ve worked with.”
His new film, the real-life survival story Everest, will open next month's Venice Film Festival. Typically, Gyllenhaal pushed himself to the limit for one scene by allowing himself to be buried in snow for so long that he almost lost his hearing.
Whether Everest can live up to his recent run of movies remains to be seen. There is no question, however, that in rediscovering his voice, Gyllenhaal has become one of the most exciting actors working today.
artslife@thenational.ae
The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS
Bournemouth 1 Manchester City 2
Watford 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Newcastle United 3 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Southampton 0
Crystal Palace 0 Swansea City 2
Manchester United 2 Leicester City 0
West Bromwich Albion 1 Stoke City 1
Chelsea 2 Everton 0
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Burnley 1
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 0
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
SPECS
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Wonder
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20EPD%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20Switch%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Tips from the expert
Dobromir Radichkov, chief data officer at dubizzle and Bayut, offers a few tips for UAE residents looking to earn some cash from pre-loved items.
- Sellers should focus on providing high-quality used goods at attractive prices to buyers.
- It’s important to use clear and appealing photos, with catchy titles and detailed descriptions to capture the attention of prospective buyers.
- Try to advertise a realistic price to attract buyers looking for good deals, especially in the current environment where consumers are significantly more price-sensitive.
- Be creative and look around your home for valuable items that you no longer need but might be useful to others.
'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdited%20by%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Idries%20Trevathan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20240%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hirmer%20Publishers%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded