Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the most versatile actors Hollywood has ever seen and his career trajectory has been an amazing one. The range of characters he has played over his career is impressive, and he has ventured into many genres of films. He is known for his commitment and passion for acting and he delivers every time with his performance in every film.
Gyllenhaal has had many passion projects throughout the years, one of which included doing a biopic on the famous American composer Leonard Bernstein. The actor’s pursuit of the dream project did not materialize and instead, Bradley Cooper took the project and made it his own.
Jake Gyllenhaal Missed Out on Doing a Biopic on Leonard Bernstein
Bradley Cooper is coming out with the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro on Netflix on December 20. The film has Cooper directing and portraying the late American composer’s complicated relationship with his wife Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan.
Many don’t know that Jake Gyllenhaal pursued the project for almost 20 years before Cooper got the rights to it. For Gyllenhaal, the biopic was one of his dream projects and had tried to get it made for many years. Getting to play one of the most celebrated Jewish composers was something that he wanted. But it seems the Bernstein family turned him down.
He talked about losing out on the project to Cooper and the heartbreak that it caused him. Gyllenhaal told Deadline,
“No one likes to admit this, but, we got beat at our own game. That’s basically what happened. There’s really nothing more to say about it than that. That idea of playing one of the most preeminent Jewish artists in America and his struggle with his identity was in my heart for 20-some-odd years, but sometimes those things don’t work out.
I mean, this is our life. Gotta enjoy it. Bottom line, and this may be my Achilles heel or it may be my superpower, but I wish them the best.”
The casting of Cooper has also been a controversial one as his use of a prosthetic nose was considered an example of Jewface. But the Bernstein family has defended his efforts to portray their father. Audiences may also have gotten a different treatment of the material if Gyllenhaal had played the role ( who’s Jewish himself) and losing out on a role like this must have been devastating.
Jake Gyllenhaal Says Working With Guy Ritchie Was Completely Unique
Jake Gyllenhaal starred in Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant in 2023. Gyllenhaal played John Kinley who goes back into enemy territory to rescue his translator Ahmed who had saved him before. It seems Ritchie’s style of filmmaking was a whole new experience for the actor and he talked about it in an appearance on Hot Ones.
Gyllenhaal claimed that Ritchie would advise him to never learn lines beforehand and they would work together on the dialogues on the day of the shoot. He said,
“With Guy, it was unlike anything I’ve ever done. He said to me, ‘Don’t memorize any of your lines,’ and the script came in 50 pages. It wasn’t even a fully written script. Usually, scripts are like 110 pages, and I was like, ‘What is this?’ when he first sent it, and then he said, ‘You come to set, and we’ll work on it on the day, and then you’ll go shoot your thing.’ And it was one of the most inspiring, creative experiences I’ve ever had.”
Gyllenhaal is set to reteam with Ritchie on an action film that also stars Henry Cavill and Eiza González. He will also headline the Roadhouse remake which is directed by Doug Liman.
