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The actors don’t always get along on a grueling and sometimes long movie shoot. That didn’t seem to be the case for Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II on the set of Michael Bay’s Ambulance. Bay aimed for practical effects over CGI, and so the two actors spent plenty of time together inside an actual ambulance for the shoot. Abdul-Mateen drove the ambulance in much of the movie, and he used his time behind the wheel to terrorize a nervous Gyllenhaal.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jake Gyllenhaal walk the red carpet at the German premiere of 'Ambulance' in March 2022.
(l-r) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jake Gyllenhaal | Gerald Matzka/Getty Images for Universal Pictures

Gyllenhaal and Abdul-Mateen play brothers in ‘Ambulance’

Gyllenhaal plays Danny Sharp, and Abdul-Mateen is Will Sharp in Ambulance, which is Michael Bay’s first directorial effort since 2019’s 6 Underground.

Will’s wife desperately needs expensive surgery, which military veteran Will and his family can’t afford. He reaches out to his brother Danny for a $231,000 loan. Danny offers more, but with a catch — he needs an extra person for a $32 million bank heist. Will accepts the offer, but things don’t go according to plan.

The brothers find themselves on the run in a stolen ambulance — Will behind the wheel and Danny riding shotgun — with an EMT (Eiza Gonzalez) and a wounded police officer (Jackson White) inside. In typical Bay fashion, car chases, shootouts, explosions, and more plot twists follow.

Abdul-Mateen piloted the ambulance much of the time, and Gyllenhaal felt a little apprehensive about it, at least at first.

Abdul-Mateen drove the ambulance and ‘terrorized’ Gyllenhaal

Abdul-Mateen revealed he performed ambulance driving tests, including weaving around orange cones, to prepare for his role. He drove at high speeds on the streets of Los Angeles while filming, but that was only part of the fun. Abdul-Mateen used his time behind the wheel to put Gyllenhaal through the wringer. 

“In a way, it was like a dream job, getting to terrorize Jake just a little bit in an ambulance,” Abdul-Mateen said, per Yahoo. “You feel like a kid sometimes doing that stuff.”

Gyllenhaal said he trusts professional stunt drivers to handle the driving on set but that Abdul-Mateen the ambulance driver eventually earned his trust.

“In the end, it actually was really fun,” Gyllenhaal said, as reported by Yahoo. “Even when he was doing stuff and having fun and playing with me, I trust Yahya. I trust him in a scene as an actor, and I trust him with my safety — about 75% of the time.”

It also helped Gyllenhaal find some perspective. He said he gained respect for first responders and the challenges they face every day after his experience riding along with Abdul-Mateen.

Abdul-Mateen joked about his U-haul driving skills on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

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Gyllenhaal and Abdul-Mateen appeared on the April 4, 2022, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Abdul-Mateen revealed driving an ambulance wasn’t his first time operating oversized machinery.

“I moved a lot. I moved to 13 different homes coming up, so I have a lot of experience behind a U-haul,” Abdul-Mateen said. “So my attitude was, how hard can it be? I mean, we lie on our resumes all the time.”

Abdul-Mateen revealed he drove the ambulance roughly 70% of the time, with stunt drivers taking over for the other 30%. One challenge he faced was finding the right button when it was time to turn on the sirens. 

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