Jake Gyllenhaal Starred in ‘Prince of Persia’ After He Stopped Taking Himself Seriously as An Actor
Jake Gyllenhaal has been known for starring in heavy material like Donnie Darko and Prisoners. But at one point, the actor aimed to star in much lighter projects.
Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t particularly look for darker films
Much of Gyllenhaal’s filmography is full of films that deal with serious and sometimes dark subject matter. But although Gyllenhaal may seem to gravitate to movies such as Nightcrawler, he clarified that he doesn’t personally seek out dark material. Rather, he focuses on the type of content with great characters and fresh storytelling.
“You might say the movies are dark, but I also have relationships with all of the directors I’ve worked with in the past four or five years that are really intimate,” he said in a 2014 interview with Deadline. “We work really hard to make a good movie and create a great character, and that’s all I’m really looking for, something that just excites me. I go to work and I can’t wait to say the words or do the thing or whatever it might be.”
Jake Gyllenhaal starred in ‘Prince of Persia’ after he stopped taking himself seriously as an actor
The 2010 feature Prince of Persia was an adaptation of the video game of the same name. The film saw Gyllenhaal star as an ancient warrior given the ability to slightly manipulate time. Back then it was seen as a bit of a departure from Gyllenhaal’s usual film choices. But the actor reassured that his role in Persia was the type of character he was always drawn to play.
“I love the idea of superheroes, people who do things that are a little beyond reality. I’m a really athletic person so it incorporates things I like to do in my daily life,” Gyllenhaal said in a 2010 interview with Reuters.
Gyllenhaal was well-aware that Prince of Persia wouldn’t be as heavier as most of his features. But that was exactly what he was counting on, as he was looking at a new direction for his career.
“I think it was about time I stopped taking myself so seriously, and I think to learn as an actor and as any artist that there are different facets to what you do,” he said.
Gyllenhaal was also interested in telling stories with a younger generation of audiences in mind.
“There were movies I remember that were told for children or the child-like part of ourselves. Some of them are really dark, some of them are light, I consider this as sort of lighter, but that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted to tell a story and be in a story that was great fun,” he said.
Jake Gyllenhaal felt himself moving away from doing movies like ‘Prince of Persia’
Until Spider-Man: Far From Home, Gyllenhaal starred in only a couple of movies that were seen as blockbusters. In addition to Prince of Persia, Gyllenhaal also did The Day After Tomorrow. But after experimenting with big-budget features, Gyllenhaal decided to steer away from the genre for a little while.
“I just felt myself moving away from those types of characters, really,” he once said in an interview with Buzzfeed. “It’s not about not doing movies like Prince of Persia, or big movies — it’s just about being able to get deeply into a character, no matter the size of the film.”
