Jake Gyllenhaal is not any stranger to conflict movies. He starred in Jarhead in 2005 and Brothers in 2009.
However, it’s his new position in The Covenant, his newest movie about fight and camaraderie, which modified him as an actor.
Speaking brazenly to news.com.au, the Hollywood star stated he actually linked with the heartfelt action-thriller on a deeper stage and it helped him reset as an actor.
“I think the reason why I’m so moved by the movie – and I’ve never really cried in a movie I’ve been in, but I do at the end of this one – is because it reminds us who we are as humans. That we are good and our intentions are good,” he tells us of his upcoming film, which premieres on Prime Video on June 16.
“Even if we do it begrudgingly, even if we’re totally reluctant, or even if we don’t even want to have to do it, the fact is you have it in you to want to [do good]. That’s very, very moving to me. And that changed me.”
In the movie – which is co-written, produced and directed by Guy Ritchie – Gyllenhaal performs US Army Sergeant John Kinley, who’s on his final tour of Afghanistan when his staff is ambushed by the Taliban.
Only Kinley and his native interpreter Ahmed (performed by Dar Salim) survive the onslaught, however with Kinley badly injured, Ahmed is pressured to stage a gruelling one-man mission throughout limitless miles of terrain to save lots of the sergeant’s life.
“It’s a movie that’s about behaviour, and actually a movie of few words,” Gyllenhaal says. “It’s about a man who is there to help interpret a culture that is sort of an unknown. But in the end, what seems unknown is actually very similar. That these two people share so much more humanity than they expected or they would even like to.”
“That to me is what was so moving about the story and what makes it in the end a real parable. And we like to say that it’s an action parable, this movie. It’s not based on a true story but based on many, many different true stories about the idea of doing good despite oneself.”
The coronary heart and messaging behind the story is actually what attracted Gyllenhaal to the movie – and the chance to work with Ritchie was additionally a serious drawcard.
“I also have always loved Guy Ritchie. I’ve known him for about 15 years and I always wanted to work with him – and it just so happened that this came up now,” says Gyllenhaal, who provides that after they began filming, the script was solely 60 pages lengthy. This is extraordinary in Hollywood however he stated this distinctive filmmaking course of lured him in.
“We started with a 60-page script and then it evolved. It found itself, we discovered the movie as we went and the relationships in it,” he explains.
“The making of the movie wasn’t just the script. We rewrote scenes every morning. You know we were working through the ideas every day over meals, we discovered things halfway through and then went back and got things for the beginning. This one was different because it wasn’t actually about the script, but it was about Guy wanting to do something different in his repertoire, which really excited me.”
Helping to evolve the movie was Gyllenhaal’s co-star, Iraqi-born Danish actor Dar Salim, who in actual life is a skilled pilot and former Royal Guard within the Danish Army, serving guard responsibility on the royal palaces. He was humble when requested if his navy background helped in his position in The Covenant, as an alternative opting to offer Ritchie all of the reward.
“I don’t think any one skill helps you with any one thing. You always bring everything you’ve done in your life with you every time you go on set. And especially, I think, on a set like this one, because Guy Ritchie works in a different way,” Salim tells us.
“The script is kind of a blueprint and he creates this wonderful, very special atmosphere where he knows what he wants. But a good leader also creates room for freedom and a safe environment where we sit around the table, eat some food, and you bring what you have. So all your skills, everything you’ve had, all your past experiences – subconsciously and unconsciously – will somehow help you in every way when you do this job.”
The Covenant premieres on Prime Video on June 16
Source: www.news.com.au
