Jake Gyllenhaal has starred in a fair share of rough-and-tough movies where he has to fight certain characters. From a helpless and brave person in Nocturnal Animals to an MCU villain in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Gyllenhaal has done it all.
The actor recently portrayed the role of Elwood Dalton in the 2024 film Road House which is a remake of the 1989 film of the same name. Wanting to prepare for his role, Gyllenhaal surprised 15,000 people by showing up unannounced at the UFC and having a fake fight!
When Jake Gyllenhaal Showed Up At The UFC!
Gyllenhaal mentioned that even though he stays in pretty good shape, he had to undergo two months of extensive MMA training and several other forms of fights to prepare for his role. The actor also stated that to shoot a scene for Road House, they decided to shoot at an actual UFC octagon!
Sitting alongside Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the Nocturnal Animals actor talked about how it was a surprise for 15,000 people to see him in the UFC ring. Gyllenhaal revealed that although it was a fake fight scene, the audience was cheering him on which Gyllenhaal referred to as an “insane” moment!
“Yeah, that was pretty nerve-racking. They had never allowed anyone besides who wasn’t a fighter into the ring. And I’m wearing the UFC shorts and it has my character’s name on it and stuff like that.”
He further continued,
“We surprised an audience of 15,000 people after the undercards at the main event. We were given a certain amount of time and to shoot this sequence, this little piece of fight sequence.”
As the interview further continued, Jake Gyllenhaal revealed that he was actually fake fighting in the Octagon. What’s harrowing is that even though the people kind of got to know that they were fake fighting, they still cheered him on!
The People Kept Cheering For Jake Gyllenhaal!
After a few minutes, the people got to know that the fighting that they were seeing wasn’t in fact, actual fighting. Seeing Jake Gyllenhaal fake-punch a fighter, the actor revealed that the people kept cheering him on and the feeling was simply… insane.
“Then they kind of got that we were fake fighting, but they were still cheering, you know. i would throw a fake punch and they’d go crazy, like 15,000 people. It was cr-it was insane”
With Gyllenhaal saying that he would love to be the new Batman in James Gunn’s DCU and starring alongside Conor McGregor in Road House, the actor has been all over the news. His 2024 film received a rating of 6.2/10 on IMDB and an average of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes.
