Judging by the brief clips of Jake Gyllenhaal filming the 1989 Patrick Swayze’s Road House remake also titled Road House circulating on the internet, fans were convinced from the get-go, that the actor took this job pretty seriously. Not only did his dedication bring forth a compelling performance, but it also resulted in some serious injuries, which led to a staph infection. However, Gyllenhaal’s situation wasn’t unique, as it turns out Tom Hanks suffered the same fate years ago! Here’s what actually happened.
Jake Gyllenhaal had to Battle Bacterial Infection While Filming Road House for Realistic Fight Scenes
Jake Gyllenhaal’s shocking yet remarkable physical transformation for Prime Video’s Road House showed he meant business. Clips of him immersing himself in the real UFC 285 to film some of the parts for his movie, was evidence enough to show that he isn’t here to play around.
In the movie, Gyllenhaal portrays ex-UFC fighter Dalton, and while initial reactions to the circulating clips were mixed, the early release of the film quickly set everyone’s perspective straight. Since it was a through-and-through UFC movie, creating realistic fight scenes was crucial.
That’s why Gyllenhaal came up with the clever idea of actually taking a few punches to his face for authenticity. Surprisingly, it paid off! While audiences thoroughly enjoyed his performance, he did have to pay a small price for it. During an interview with Metro, he revealed,
“I mean inevitably with these types of movies you do get [injuries]. I took a couple like punches for real, We’re not fighting in a ring, you’re not fighting in an octagon or a boxing ring, so you have elements – like you’re in a bar, you have edges of things, you have glass, you have other people all around, there are chairs, things break–I got glass in my hand; I got a staph infection from grappling at some point.”
Turns out, not only did the actor have to fight off his opponents, but also a bacterial infection. On Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, he elaborated on how it actually happened.
“We’re fighting on the floor, fighting around tables, we’re fighting around glass,–I felt the glass going in my hand,–I remember the feeling [and] went, ‘That’s a lot of glass.–My whole arm swelled up. It ended up being staph.”
However, he also further clarified that since this wasn’t the only time he was injured, the exact moment he contracted staph was still unclear to him at least. Despite all the injuries he suffered, he’s glad that nothing major happened, unlike another actor who suffered the same fate, way back.
This Bacterial Infection Almost Took Tom Hanks’ Life Years Back
Tom Hanks, in his illustrious career, has delivered some of the greatest performances Hollywood has ever seen, and for that, an immense amount of effort was required to put into his craft. It’s no secret that filming Cast Away might just have been one of the most difficult things Hanks has ever done in his entire life. Not only did the preparations for the movie put him in a dark spot mentally, but he also suffered physically.
Although Gyllenhaal might make it seem effortless, a staph infection is no joke, as Hollywood nearly lost one of its brightest stars to it. In a 2009 interview with the BBC, (via Digital Spy), Hanks revealed,
“[Cast Away] put me in the hospital. I was there for three days with something that, believe it or not, almost killed me. I got an infection from a cut, and it was eating its way through my leg. I didn’t know it. I just thought I had a sore.”
Elaborating on the seriousness of the situation, he further explained,
“I went to the doctor who took one look and said, ‘I have to put you in the hospital because we have to get this infection out of you before it poisons your blood and you die.’”
Fortunately, the actor eventually recovered after spending three full days in the hospital, and filming was suspended for nearly three weeks. Cast Away earned Hanks his fifth Oscar nomination and garnered critical acclaim, unlike any other movie.
Road House will be streaming on Prime Video from the 21st of March, fans can also catch Cast Away on AMC+.
