Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the most recognized names in Hollywood, whether you know him best fromBrokeback Mountain,Donnie Darko, or even his most recent work,Ambulance. However, it was playing Mysterio inSpider-Man: Far From Homethat actually changed his perspective on acting.
Almost three years after playing the well-knownSpider-Manbaddy and master of deception, Gyllenhaal reflected on what it was like to be involved in a movie genre he wasn’t all too familiar with. Because the majority of films he has starred in play it straight as far as tones go, Gyllenhaal was in relatively new territory by being in aSpider-Manfilm with a much lighter tone and much more family-friendly story.
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“I’m pretty sure I was taking myself too seriously,” Gyllenhaal said to Vanty Fair. “I think I had really lost that sense of play and fun that I am… It was such a cathartic thing to throw out away all that seriousness and really become that actor that I think I’ve always wanted to be in a lot of ways. And find the play and the fun and that gratitude that I’m here and I get to do this.” Gyllenhaal went on to say howthe role of Mysterioput him on a journey to experience the more fun side of acting. “I think that we go through journeys in life where we’re finding ourselves and, in the case of Spider-Man, I think I realized, ‘Hey, you know, acting is really fun. Enjoy it.'”
Ironically enough, Gyllenhaal almost replacedTobey Maguire as Spider-ManinSpider-Man 2and nearly landed the part of Batman in the Christopher Nolan trilogy roughly two decades ago. Who knows what his perspective on acting may have been if he had played one of the most popular superheroes ever created when he was younger? Nonetheless, good for him that trying new things helped him enjoy the fun side of acting.
Gyllenhaal’s words may also help naive young actors hoping to catch their big break who think that performance arts are all fun and games for these professionals. The truth is,acting is difficultbecause you have to remember your lines word for word, and you have to remember the way in which you say them, otherwise you may mess up the take or your stage act is ruined. With these professionals, a fair number of them don’t see their job as fun in the slightest but rather one that they need to take seriously every single minute. That goes for the ones even in comedy. Because if they don’t, production will move on to the next man up.
It’s also interviews like these that demonstrate that while actors primarily need to take their job seriously, they can enjoy it every once in a while. There’s nothing wrong with having fun while on set or on a stage. A stage ormovie production can be successful, potentially, if everyone’s enjoying themselves while they work. Much like any other job, a lot of what goes into an employee’s performance is good morale, and that’s especially true for actors.
