Jake Gyllenhaal learned the biggest lesson of his acting career during a scene in which he thought he was nailing it. He starred in the 1999 family drama movie October Sky alongside veteran actor Chris Cooper, who was responsible for instilling in him the true essence of acting.
Fans would recognize Cooper from the 2002 film The Bourne Identity as Alexander Conklin. The Oscar-winning actor was also in 1996’s A Time to Kill and 1999’s American Beauty.
Jake Gyllenhaal On The Greatest Acting Lesson He Learned From Chris Cooper
During his interview with The Howard Stern Show, actor Jake Gyllenhaal said the greatest acting lesson he received was from fellow actor Chris Cooper. The latter portrayed John Hickam in Joe Johnston’s October Sky. In one of their scenes, Gyllenhaal was pouring his heart out by screaming.
Every actor loves to pretend like they’re tough, and they also love just screaming and yelling. It’s the final opportunity to get that out, like that’s acting, and so I was doing it, and I thought, take after take, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m killing this.’ I’m just screaming and yelling.
He described Cooper as “a very quiet, composed man, very measured, very thoughtful.” The actor would come up to Gyllenhaal and tell him, “I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re just yelling at me. Just listen to what I’m saying to you.”
The Road House star admitted he was devastated and even felt embarrassed, but he managed to take the opportunity “to not fill it with all this acting.” He listened, but in doing so, he got more pissed off.
As they talked, it really started to piss me off, like what he was saying started to piss me off, and then I was like, ‘Oh my god’, I was riding a real wave. That was the biggest gift an actor’s ever given me, honestly.
October Sky was lauded by fans and critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an impressive 91% score and the majority of the reviews commend its coming-of-age story with a soulful touch. Gyllenhaal’s breakthrough role was in this movie and it’s safe to say that he was fortunate to have learned an important lesson early in his career.
The actor branched out to various movie genres in the industry and expanded his portfolio. From drama to action, romantic comedy to superhero, Gyllenhaal exhibits a true actor’s versatility.
Chris Cooper Has One Important Advice For Jake Gyllenhaal
Cooper and Gyllenhaal would reunite in 2005’s Jarhead, a film by Sam Mendes. According to the former via Independent: “It’s like running into a nephew every so many years. He’s always pleasant. It’s always a delight.”
The veteran actor was very generous to share the advice he gave to Gyllenhaal. He warned him that “at every turn of this business, do not have regrets” especially in the industry where rejection is such a commonplace. Cooper was aware that the Nightcrawler actor took that advice to heart.
October Sky is available to watch on Netflix.
