Jake Gyllenhaal Explains Why He Has Always Dreamed of Being in a Michael Bay Movie
Jake Gyllenhaal is starring in Michael Bay’s latest movie, Ambulance. For the Zodiac actor, this has been a long time coming. Action movies, especially ones directed by Bay, are very entertaining and seem like a lot of fun to be on the set of. According to Gyllenhaal, this made working with Bay more appealing and it’s something he has always wanted to do in his career.
‘Ambulance’ is Michael Bay’s latest movie about a bank heist gone wrong
Ambulance is the latest action film from Bay. Ambulance stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul Mateen-II as brothers who decide to rob a bank. When the heist goes sour, the pair find themselves on a high-speed chase through Los Angeles in an ambulance with a wounded cop and an EMT (Eiza González).
While critics typically aren’t favorable toward Bay’s movies, Ambulance is getting positive reviews so far and currently holds a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews are praising the large-scale and explosive action set pieces that Bay is known for. However, critics are also criticizing the film for its corny dialogue and nonsensical plot holes. So, it is a movie that remains consistent with what Bay’s fans love.
Jake Gyllenhaal says he always ‘dreamed’ of being in a Michael Bay movie
In a recent interview with People, Gyllenhall spoke about the fun experience he had while shooting Ambulance. He also explained he had always imagined shooting car chases in LA and it was “fulfilling” to do that, especially in a Bay movie.
“I’ve always had this sort of dream since I was younger to be in a Michael Bay [movie], and it’s just fun to sort of play that out,” Gyllenhaal said. “To be in a city where I grew up, where you’re a kid thinking about cars and car chases and stuff like that, and to be fulfilling that. Being an action star in a movie, it just allows for so much room for fun and joking and absurdity.”
Bay is known for using practical effects in his movies, so Gyllenhaal and the rest of the cast were doing a lot of physical work for this movie. Gyllenhaal is also known as a tremendous dramatic actor, so it makes sense that he would have more fun in a role that he can play around with.
This is not Jake Gyllenhaal’s first role in an action movie
While Gyllenhaal’s work is typically in more dramatic films like Brokeback Mountain and Nightcrawler, the actor does have a history in action movies. In 2010, he starred in Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time where he portrayed the lead hero. While that film didn’t become a hit, Gyllenhaal had more success the following year with Source Code.
In 2019, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the main villain in Spider-Man: Far From Home. His role didn’t feature a lot of stunt work as it was mostly digital, but he still did make for an intimidating Mysterio.
Ambulance drives into theaters on April 8.
