Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Jake Gyllenhaal (2019)

Episode Date: June 28, 2020

Jake Gyllenhaal’s role in the blockbuster hit Spider-Man: Far From Home was a first for the Oscar-nominated actor, who over the last twenty years has earned his place among Hollywood’s elite. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to Gyllenhaal about pivoting from that big-budget superhero film to his role in a critically-acclaimed Broadway play. (Original broadcast date: July 28, 2019) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. My guest this week, one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, Jake Gyllenhaal. Very excited for this one. Jake's in the middle of a good run just this month alone. He's in Spider-Man, where he plays Mysterio, a film that just crossed the $1 billion mark, his first time in the Marvel universe. Really first time doing one of those big superhero dress-up costume kind of deals. And at the same time, this week, he's in previews for his play, Seawall a Life, which he has brought to Broadway from the famed public theater off Broadway here in New York City. This interview is taking place at the Hudson Theater, where he was getting ready just a couple of days before they started previews for Seawall A Life. He co-stars with British actor Tom Sturge, and he'll explain it to you, but what it is is just two acts. And the first act is just Tom Sturridge on stage giving a monologue and Jake is in the wings hanging

out in his dressing room, whatever he's doing. Then he comes out for the second act and does a monologue and that's it. But what's interesting about it is it was such a huge hit, sold out hit at the public theater off Broadway that they wanted to bring it to Broadway. But he told me before we started and I think he won't mind me saying

that this is he thinks the best thing he's ever done. And this is the third time he's done Broadway and he talks about just totally breaking the fourth wall. He said it's such a personal show and it's about fathers and sons and children and death and life and all those things that's so deep and it touches so many people that they want to talk you want somebody to talk to after and he's like why not talk to the guys who are in the show so he's super invested

in this it's a really uh it's a really amazing piece of writing and performance by tom sturge and jake jillen hall so here are jake and me at the hudson theater in new york city we want to point out you'll hear later in the interview when we walked out into the theater itself it was still under construction. I think it's fair to say the ceiling was falling in a bit. But here now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast, Oscar nominee, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Thank you for doing this, man. Thank you. Let's talk about the play. Seawall, a life. Slash. It had a slash, as you and Tom say, then your little piano number on Instagram, slash a life.

Yeah. What is this play about? I mean, it's a lot to explain. It's heavy. It's two acts. entire monologue to yourself, people thinking about coming to see it, what will they see when they walk into this theater? It's a show about faith and family and the mess and comedy of life, you know?

It's about really, actually, about two fathers and about, for my character, about a father who's just, someone's just about to become a father. And also, he goes back into his relationship with his own father and the passing of his father. and how that makes him feel becoming a father. And the longing and then the love for his child who's born. And time kind of becomes a very relative thing in my piece. And I go back and forth between moments and experiences I've had as a character in my life. And it's moving.

I mean, it's some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read. And I wanted to do it for five years. And because it's semi-autobiographical, the writer, Nick Payne said, no, he really wrote it for himself, actually, as a catharsis because of the things he went through. And I begged him for five years. And then he finally let us do it at the public. And then the response was so overwhelming there from the people who saw it that we decided,

hey, let's take it to Broadway for nine weeks if we can. And they agreed and we're here. So it's definitely a different feel because it's, as I said, one act with Tom. Yep. He's doing his thing. Yep. And then you sort of wait through that act and come out and do yours. How are the two acts related?

I mean, the first piece, which is Tom's piece, is it's incredible. It's sort of meant in a lot of ways to shake us up as an audience. And he's a father, he's on vacation with his family, and it's really about his daughter and his wife and the love of his wife. I think the similarities between the two of them is that these are two men who deeply love their wives, which is oddly becoming rare is a theme in a little. a lot of particularly theatrical work that I've seen. They're just madly in love with them.

And grappling with what it's like to be this parental figure, you know, to be the person holding the hand of this little being and them depending on you in every possible way. And I think they're linked because they're about love and loss and the idea that in order to love anything, the inevitability of loss is there. That's how we love and why we love. We cherish it. And so that's how they're linked. But also, we share the stage.

I'm off stage when he's on stage and vice versa. I'm in the wings with him when he's performing and vice versa. I mean, we note each other nightly. We're a real partnership. And we actually do spend time on stage together in the show. So what is that like just as a practical matter as an actor? So to be in the wings watching another show and waiting for your moment to come out. Is that hard?

Do you stay in character? even during his piece, or how do you do it? These pieces are special in that there's not, the idea of character, it doesn't really exist. There are distinct characters in a way, but really it's about each audience that comes in every night and the difference in all of them. I mean, you can say that about every show you see. Obviously, every audience is going to be different, but we interact with them. So to watch him interact, I can start feeling the energy of the audience and what kind of group

they are, if they're up for a laugh, if they're not up for a laugh, if they're not up for a laugh, laugh if they're like, and I am cheering him on, you know. I mean, we can't do this without each other. These pieces are sort of acts of vulnerability and what he does every night, how far he goes, how much he shares, how much he opens his heart. I like to think that I'm a part of that, him knowing that I'm in the wings like a team member and saying like, you got this, I got you if anything happens, you know? And then I actually kind of, I don't really even think about my piece. You know, we've worked on them so much that every night's different. I mean, I sometimes just change wardrobe too.

I have a closet as opposed to a one wardrobe that I wear every night. So it switches. I'm like, oh, I feel like wearing shoes and bore boots or whatever. And I put them on different. It's different every night. Is the performance different every night? In other words, when you go out there, obviously you've got the piece or doing the monologue, but the way you play to the crowd or a joke you may or may not make based on what you're seeing out there?

Oh, yeah. I mean, stuff happens with them. Yeah. And we respond to it. You hear these stories about actors saying, oh, the cell phone went off. What a terrible thing. I love it when cell phone's going off.

I mean, don't, if you come, let your cell phone go off. But, I mean, if it does, and there have been moments where I've said to people, do you want to get that? Do you want to pick it up? And not in a, like, a provocative way, for real. Like, we're here together. If my cell phone went off,

maybe I pick it up, maybe I turn it off, and there is no hierarchy of actors. on a stage. We are all here. And what I think is really cool is, you know, and sometimes people are, I've been in shows where people are crying, thinking about things they've been through, having the birth of their own child, you know, the potential loss of their parent who may be aging or going through whatever they may be going through. And I'll wait for them or I'll not acknowledge them, but, and there are also also times that I just, I go through the audience. It's not like a Cirque de Soleil thing either.

That's actually the joke we always say. Yeah, it's like, we're like, maybe we should win rehearsals. Like, maybe I should go in the audience. And I was like, yeah, it feels a little Cirque de Soleil. You know, when you're in the audience at Cirque de Soleil, you're like, please don't go on play, please don't go up to me. There are the rare few who are like, yeah, bring me on stage. I'm like, I don't want to go on stage, which is weird.

But yeah, I go through the audience, I interact with them in certain ways. I never put anyone on the spot, you know. I can't, so hard to explain until you come, but it's a very special experience. We've tried to recreate some of the cell phone distraction with an active construction scene right outside our window. I don't know if you noticed. I can see you going like, hold for audio. Are you guys all right on audio, by the way? Yeah?

I don't think there's any avoiding it. So, as you mentioned, this was a big hit at the public. The theater here in New York City for people who don't know. It's sort of an incubator for great theater. Yeah. Does the show change at all on Broadway, or is it exactly the same show lifted and put in this theater? The nature of the show is that it never stays the same. So the space itself, the season, it's a different season we did in the wintertime. Our wardrobe changes. The set is changing a bit. The lighting is changing. What we learn from the audiences, because we have a lot of talkbacks, and we'll continue to have post-show come out and talk to the audience. because what we learned is that people have a lot of stories that they want to share,

that the stories we share just preempt them to want to share theirs. And we're there to listen. I mean, they've sat there listening to us for two hours. So, you know, the things they learn, the things they tell us back have been some of the most incredible moments I've had in my life and in my work. So. But that's an amazing thing, an unusual thing. I've been to a lot of theater and I've never seen the two stars. I don't think.

come out and stand at the front of the stage and take questions and listen after they've been through this emotionally exhausting experience. Why is that part of it something that you and Tom want to do? It's the reason we're coming to Broadway. Because I don't think we realize the impact these stories would have. I have this moment. I say to Tom all the time, I say did their imaginations turn on? Because with a monologue, which seems like such an actor being indulgent, you know, it's like the actor monologue. You know, it's like acting class 101 or something. These have a this feeling of you can feel everybody go into their own life. They all kind of go back and they go, oh, my children, my father, my mother, you know, whatever the experience might be, and you can feel

the silence. In fact, when we were at the public theater, we had to install doors backstage because there are a number of different productions going on at the public theater all at once. And we share dressing rooms and people are moving in and out. And they had to put doors on the stage entrances because even tiptoeing you could hear because it was so quiet at times. So it has like, and speaking of construction noise, there was a, I remember a night where there was just a truck backing up for like 45 seconds to a minute and a half. And I sat there with the audience. Yeah, yeah.

After a while I was like, okay, I think I need to stop because it's distracting us all. And I just stopped. And I was like, I think we just wait for them to back up, you know? And it just brings us all together, you know. It's like we spend a lot of time watching actors perform. Yeah. But us trying to be is what we're trying to do. And that's a lot due to our director, Carrie Cracknell, who demanded that we bring ourselves to this thing.

And I was ready to do an accent and like, where's the dance number? And where's the glitter and sparkling shoes? And she was like, no, just the closest you can get to yourself. And it's been pretty scary for me and Tom because we do what we pull out every trick. And she's like, nope, give me that. I'm throwing that in the garbage. Nope, I'm throwing that in the garbage. And we don't succeed every night, you know.

I mean, I'm just as full of crap as the next person. So probably a lot more. So it's an interesting journey to try and be as honest as you can with a big group of people. It all sounds in some ways like you're, yes, of course you're acting. but you're not. You're sort of opening yourself up a little bit. You're not worried about breaking the fourth wall. You're talking to the audience if the phone rings or the horn honks.

It sounds to me like a completely different kind of acting experience than you've had maybe ever. Ever. Yeah. And I think it's also so personal, you know, to Nick Payne, the playwright who wrote my piece, to Simon Stevens, who wrote Tom's piece. strangely, Tom has done three shows with Simon Stevens, his work, and I've done three of Nick's shows. Carrie, Cracknell, our director, is very close with both Simon and Nick from school. So it feels like a family, and because of that, it feels like we're bringing something out there to people that I don't think they, I don't think people really fully know.

And it's actually been really hard for me to describe what the show is about. because every time you talk about it, you're, it's like, what? And it's really to be experienced. And yeah, it's not. It's not like, it's not the normal stuff that I've done. And because of that, because of that, it's really changed me in my ideas of what I want to do in my own work. Really? This show has.

How so? I think I've had an idea of what acting is. and it always changes and it always is, every time I feel like I'm grabbing onto something that I think I know about acting, it just always is like, nope. And for a long time, I searched for characters through reality and like trying to live in the world

and people who call it method or whatever. And then I realize how to, I'm privileged to be able to do what I do. People have the opportunity even to say, oh, we did a show in public, and a lot of people saw it. to bring to Broadway, and what can I learn in process about myself? And can I actually be bold enough to show people parts of myself that I, that really are

there, not just hide behind a character? And I would say that's true and not true also because Nick has written a character that is like kind of person I want to be, that I am not always. Before I walk on stage at night, I always think to my. myself, can I live up to the guy that he wrote? And then as I walk off, I wonder if I can take some of the stuff that he wrote and bring it into my own life. So it's this, this like kind of journey every night of, can I be as good of a person as this guy is on stage? For having with all the stuff that he grapples with, you know, and he's honest, but he's just written such a pure,

hearted, vulnerable person, you know. So what have you taken from Abe then? That's so interesting that you're studying a character. It hasn't worked at all. You've tried. Hasn't worked at all. In fact, I'm worse than when I started. No, no.

I realize I'm a total faker and I'm in the rest of my life, though. No, I think I've learned, you know, I am not a father. I do hope to be a father one day. And I think I walk around, and we walk around the city, we walk around our cities wherever we live. and I think we have no idea what anyone else is going through. That we could be sitting next to someone on the subway and someone could behave a certain way that makes us upset

or brings us joy or whatever it is. And we have no idea where they just come from or where they're going. And it just constantly reminds me of that because I am in my own bubble, you know, in the world that we live in, on my phone, doing my thing, caring about the specific people that I care about,

the relationships that I cultivate and try and give to. And not always do I think, that person I just passed, what are they going through? And I think it just reminds me all the time, which is why we want to come out, we want to talk to people afterwards. It's why we want to engage in it. Because I do think that that is what performing is actually about,

outside all the like the glitz and the glamour and the fun stuff and you know that's what it really is and that's why i think i've always loved it is because of that just sometimes takes a while to get back to it you know so how do you choose a project like this because clearly you could do whatever you want to do go do another movie do a big budget movie do spider man do something like that which you just did yeah how do you decide along the road of your career i got to get back to the theater because clearly you come back again and again and again. Yeah, I have no choice in that. I mean, there's a part of me that's just like when there's the next job and the energy is

like beckoning, it's like, you know, you have that part of you as an actor that's just what's the next job and is there going to be one? And then I think that there are just some things that like shake you and move you and you get a certain kind of message from people and you go, like, I got to move that way. I also just have always loved the theater. It's where my heart is. there's nothing like it. Sometimes I think when I see you guys in the morning doing that show,

I get so nervous before I go on those show. And you guys are just like, it's wrote, you know, like, but it's a performance. It's a real performance. They're all different kinds of them. And that nervousness I get, that kind of thing before I come out, I'm like, and we talk a little bit, and then like you go out and you're like, hello.

And today we have, I am always like, I think I love that feeling. I think I'm drawn to that feeling. I think the feeling of potentially, you know, doing something great, doing something people don't really love, I think that is a bit addicted to me. But, man, I mean, I'll do it. I mean, I try and do a lot of things. You do?

Yeah, yeah. So on this show, let's say we're two, three months into the run, you'll go out there and you'll still have those butterflies right before you go out there? Is that something you need to get yourself into that performance on the stage? It changes. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I've been like, you know, and I really, really try on this show, too, to just walk out on stage. I don't have like a, I'm getting into character.

You know, I just, we're doing stuff. Tom comes back. He's done his. He tells me what he feels. We exchange little stuff. You know, like, we both go to the bathroom before we do it, like, maybe 100 times. Literally, no joke. I think I go to the bathroom.

100 times before I go on stage. And then at some point, someone says, you're going to have to stop going to the bathroom, even though at a certain point I'm not really actually going. I'm just walking through the door. And then I have to go on stage, you know? But I try and make it as every night before I go on, Peter Lawrence, our stage manager,

we've done a number of shows together. And we're talking. And we always are joking. We're not in a space of this is a serious thing. Right. because I particularly with my piece I think you know I'm just there with you guys you know whatever happens happens you tell me where you want to go yeah and um yeah I remember one night with Peter Lawrence I was walking out with Peter and I said it was before after we opened and it was

our first show and I was like you know guys I just want to say before we begin this run to all of our stage managers and to our main stage manager I said just want to say thank you to all of you guys has been like amazing like we've been through this incredible journey up into this point and he's like It's not over yet. Get out there. And I was like, and I just went on stage. You know, it wasn't like I was getting very emotional. Right, right.

No time for sentimentality. No time. Yeah. Sentimentality's on stage. Right, right. So do you read reviews? I'm always curious because the reviews, I mean, part of the reason you're here is because the reviews were great there and the audiences came and more people want to see it here.

Are you a review reader of your work? Sometimes. Yeah. I didn't. And per the advice, I mean, the quotes are on the poster. So that's a little weird. When you pass by it and stuff, and obviously once they came out,

they put them on posters, so you're walking to theater and you see them. But my sister told me a long time ago, when you're doing a play in particular, don't ever. Because it's still in process. And regardless of what people say, it just does get into your head.

You go like, oh, I must be amazing. Right. And then what is that? So, or really not. So I think that that's the, I don't. But they have been good. I know they've been good. I did see you standing outside in front of greatest actor of his generation,

just pointing up at it, waiting for people to notice. Well, I'm desperately trying to let people know that that, you know, obviously. The big subtle headline. Let's just say I've taken a thousand selfies in front of that. Yeah. And there's no. I noticed that was an extra large type. Yeah.

Like I loaned my phone to someone the other day so they could take a picture and I was like, um, just um, yeah, you don't know, no, just go to the camera, directly to the camera, not to the photographs. Thousands of pictures of that. Just it taken, just me taking pictures of that quote.

Yeah. Going through your role. Oh, this is just sad. Yeah. You mentioned your sister. Have your parents seen it? Has your family seen it and given you feedback on it? Yeah.

Love it, I assume. Yeah, it's interesting. I ask because they know acting and directing and everything, right? It's like not, I mean, my sister did have a couple, because there's a moment in the show, a big moment in the show where I go back and forth between time, and then I'm actually playing in one point, my wife and myself while she's in labor,

and then as she gives birth, and me speaking to her and her in labor. So I go back and forth at this moment. And my sister, I remember afterwards, She was like, we need to talk about the labor part. I just didn't quite get it, you know? And I was like, I don't think I could ever quite get it. But the notes were really not about, there were no notes.

It's like I delivered each show when they were there to each of them. And they're with me every night in this show in particular. And like when my dad came, my dad came to the opening of the show, my mom came to the second preview. I wouldn't allow her to come to the first preview. She was like desperate to come to the first preview. My dad lives in L.A. My mom lives in New York.

So she lives about 10 blocks from the public theater. So she was like, I'm ready to go. And so she came to the second preview. And in truth, like, I couldn't kind of hold it together when they were there. Really? Yeah. And then my dad, too. Like, my dad came to the opening.

And that was, again, all of our families were there. You know, Tom's family, our entire crew. family. And so it had that feeling. And, um, but yeah, it was more like the, the backstage afterwards is just, and I hope what the audience feels is the same thing is just like how much they love and cherish the people that they do love. And even if it's wrought and hard and difficult at times, even when you're with people who you love and you're close, but you feel so far away to not forget that it's a special time. And I think that's the show in a nutshell.

So really it's like my dad, I was like everything my dad and I have, everything my mom and I have, good and bad together, was set aside and was very like a lot of love, a lot of love. It's for the lack of sounding like really, you know, Just a lot of love. Yeah, I got you. You go into a lot of your own stuff, too, I imagine.

Yeah, they're with me. I mean, I talk about my father, and it is Nick, the writer's father. It is a father that is fictional that he created, and my dad's with me. And I think about my dad when he held me when I was a little baby. And I hold my child in the piece, too, as an infant, as she's born, you know. And that's fictional to me. But my dad, Nick's dad, Nick's dad, Nick. they all happen in this moment.

And so it's, it is an honor to hold all of their experiences with me in that time. And they're all on that stage every night. That's amazing. Yeah. I feel like this moment in your, this month even of your career is very illustrative because you've come off a billion-dollar Marvel movie and then you hop to sea life or sea wall slash a life. It is not an easy title. No, sorry.

Seewall slash a life. See life slash a wall. It's totally fine too. We're fine with anything you want to say. That's the sequel. That's the next one. They flip it. It's crazy.

But I just, you know, I was looking at your resume and I'm not just blowing smoke, but you go down. You're like, there just aren't like bad movies in there. Like you make... There are a couple, but, yeah, I mean... Go ahead. What are they? Okay, cool. Yeah.

Well, anyway, this is great to talk to you. And in the director. And in that moment, he's single-handedly destroyed this career. No, but like I was just thinking about your choices, like what we were just talking about of like, I'm going to try this Marvel thing. I'm going to enter the Marvel universe, a billion dollar movie, and then I'm going to hop back and get back to the theater. Do you think about that sort of that movie to theater thing or is it just the best thing that's in front of you at any moment? Huh. Are you a person who sort of plots out the career?

No. No. I mean, I've been asked this question a couple of times. And like for the sake of the, I think when I was a lot younger, I was very, very trying to figure it out. And I was, I had a lot of amazing success at an age when I think I really wasn't quite sure who I was and still trying to figure it out. So I had a lot of people saying like, you do this next thing, you do that, that's the way you should do it. There's some sort of equation. And what I realized through successes and failures is that there is no equation.

And I think the only equation is for me to say, if I have the opportunity, is to say, is to say, say what is the thing that is in front of me that I can do best. That can, I can learn something from if I have that opportunity. And so I, Spider-Man came at almost the last minute. I mean, if I told you the way it went, it was like, they came to me like, and they were like, hey, do you want to play this character? It wasn't something we planned, and it came to me in this beautiful way. And I said, yeah, I mean, yeah, I love Tom Holland.

I love the first movie. I love the tone of the first movie. The character was so cool. The character does things in the movie that I think kind of blow people's minds in a lot of ways. And it really somehow just matched me in a way that I loved, you know?

And it felt right. So I was like, yeah, I'm in. Then putting on the costume was a whole other thing and, like, wearing a superhero suit was a whole other thing that I had to get used to and, like, jumping from platforms

and pretending like you were flying was a whole other thing. But that made sense. And then, by the way, I had no idea we were going to Broadway. I was like, I've always wanted to do this show. You have to obviously stake out a period of time to do theater.

So you need, so I knew I was going to do this show at the public. I had no idea we would be here. That was a decision we made right at the end of the run. And we knew this theater was available for this amount of time. And we went she would do it. Let's do it. Let's take the risk. And now we're here.

And who knows what's. I literally don't know what's next. As we sit here right now. I have no idea what's next. You're in this. We'll figure it out after. Is that the way you think about it? Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And it's a real luxury. And I, it is not lost on me, you know. So, yeah. We talked about the household you came from of director, screenwriter, actors. Was there ever any chance you were going to be anything other than an actor? I mean, you're your first movie at 10 years old. Was it, were the die-cats?

That's pretty early for you? I guess so. I mean, I don't know and I can't tell whether or not it... I mean, my love for acting for storytelling is pretty deep and it runs a little bit deeper even than my family ties. I like to believe in the sort of like woo woo fantasy of me that no matter where I came from, I would love acting. I don't know if that's true.

But I really think that my mother and my father are constantly in my mind in really beautiful ways in terms of the stories I want to tell. And they raised me in a way that was like that is on display, I think, in the choices that I make. You know, they're a big part of it. But I think I would, no, I like what I do. I was just thinking about it. People have asked me, what have you wanted to be or what you want to do? And there's a lot of things I love. But the truth is you're an actor because you have no idea what you want to be or do.

And we'll leave the real jobs to like much stronger, much more courageous people. And that's just the truth. The world's better off and safer with you as an actor, maybe. I think so. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. No matter how weird the movies I make are. Like, yeah.

We talked about that young start. A lot of people, I think, would point to October Sky or Donnie Darko as the, quote, breakout role for you. Yeah. Did it feel that way to you? Donnie Darko at that time? Like, okay, people like this movie. It's getting pretty good reviews.

It became a cult hit. Did it feel like I'm in Hollywood now? No. No. No. No. I mean, when I got October Sky, I auditioned for months for that role. I mean, I went through all the hoops.

I did everything I could. I met with everybody. who needed to meet me and shake my hand and see if I was stable. You know, I mean, I auditioned. I did, I think I auditioned maybe 15 times after my first initial audition. So when I got that role, that felt like, oh, my God, I'm making a move. Oh, my God. I'm like, starring in a movie.

Like, it was mind-blowing. It was a little overwhelming, honestly. Now that I'm older and can look back on it, I think it was, you know. All the attention, you mean? being a celebrity that part of it? No, not that part of it. I think just the professional aspect of being a kid in an adult world. I think that's more what I mean. The other stuff, there wasn't a lot. I went to college after that. Nobody really cared. And I think it wasn't really, and then Donnie Darko came out, and nobody really knew about it at that point either. It wasn't

until I was doing a show on the West End in London, actually, that Donnie Darko came out there, about six months after it had sort of failed and done really badly with the box office here. And people, there was this, I was doing some press post-finishing the show there in London. People were like, it's amazing, it's amazing. And I was like, whoa, what's going on? And then that started to create something. But again, that show wasn't, that movie wasn't a, I think it was really, when we did like, Brokeback Mountain, I was like, whoa, what's going on?

This is a level of focus and attention that hits a certain nerve that you're like, This is bigger than me. I don't know what this is. We totally, I understand what it is, but this little movie we made that meant so much to us has now become not ours anymore. It's the world. And I think that kind of attention, you know, to be 26 years old

and to be like at the Academy Awards, you're like, whoa. And I applaud the people who are like at that age who are in that situation. not be like overwhelmed by it. I mean, it's, that was, I think, a moment for me where I went, whoa, what's going on? This is amazing and crazy and whoa, you know. Sure. Did you guys, while you were making it or even based on the concept of it, you and Heath have some sense that you were doing something at least significant? You didn't know it was going to become what it's become, which is sort of this transcendent piece of art. Did you know

it was special though when you were making it? Yeah. We knew it was special, but like I think everything I do is special. I mean, I don't mean that and like it. But I mean, you have to. You have to care about it. You have to care deeply about the stories you tell. Why are you doing it? You know, even if it's something you don't, you find your way in. I mean, that's the actor's job. You didn't write it. You're not directing it. You don't produce it. You don't put it out there. You have to find your way into the character you've been given and whether or not you can do your best with it. So to me, you make it special. You know, I mean, some of the great actors I admire and adore, you know, you see them early in their career and they're fading themselves

into characters other people have chosen for them. And then they have opportunities later on and that they get to choose. And then you can see them start shaping characters from themselves. And those are the people I really admire. But no, I mean, we did know it was special. We had no I mean, I mean. How could you? No. I mean, you know, I made a lot of independent movies. and they always say to you, you're in it, and they're like, you know, you're going, you're shooting at this meant time, no one's going to see it.

Literally, that's what, I mean, but you're doing it because you love it, and it's a story that people will, like, some people will really, and that just proved everybody wrong in my life. You know, a lot of people might see this little thing that you do, and I think that's what we should all know. It's like, you never know. That's right.

Yeah. So what did it mean for you, that movie, the aftermath of that, just your life and your career? Did it open doors for you? Oh, yeah. The way you looked at the industry? Yeah, yeah, it opened tons of doors.

It opened tons of doors. It was like, it was amazing. It was crazy. It was amazing. And it has, and it's defined my career in different ways. You know, I see people with their own insecurities and their own ideas and judgments. I see people and who have joked me or criticized me about lines I say in that movie, you know. And then I see, and that's the thing I loved about Heath was he never, he would never joke, you know.

someone made it some sort of wanted to make a joke about the story or whatever he was like no this is about love like that's it man like no and um and and and then there are other people who you know you kind of go like that's changed their lives you know you know i and you go whoa there's that people can joke about entertainment being entertainment but i mean i've seen movies that i've been like, all right, my life went there. It was like I walked in theater, I walked into a show, and my life was here, and then it just went just there. That's what I love about it.

By the way, I understand how indulgent it can sound, but I just believe it's true. Yeah. No, I totally get it. And I think one of the things about you, and I have no idea how you do it is having spent a little time around you off camera, is that you're the same guy standing over there before we sit down as you are. sitting right here. The word normal doesn't apply to your life because there's nothing normal. I have not. That's a whole other matter. But how have you sort of kept some level of normalcy?

How have you kept your life in here? You've done a great job protecting your privacy, I would say. But how have you tried to keep some core while the world's exploding around you and everybody wants a piece of you and everybody wants to take a picture of you? How do you do that? my life is not normal in a lot of ways, but I don't even know what that word means. None of our lives are normal, you know? And I think to me, I have an extraordinary sibling who does the same thing,

who is my older sister, will always make me be a little brother, and I will always do her bidding. It's just, it's just embarrassing. Still. I mean, yeah, man. It's like, she can be like, pick that up. She could, like, drop it on the floor and say, pick that up,

and I would pick it up. And I'm like, what am I doing? You know? You're Jake Gyllenhaal. Get a hold of yourself. And I just think, I believe my mom and my dad were like, storytelling is about trying to do what you believe in, and people will criticize you.

for it. They'll critique you. They'll give you crap. They'll be negative. They'll be incredibly positive, too positive and all that stuff. And I just kind of want to zone in and be like, what are you up to? What's interesting to you? I always want to. I look, when in an interview, I was like, what are you into? Yeah. But that's why you're good at what you do, because you were curious. Like you lock in on somebody and you've got questions. I do, but I'm also a total narcissist. But I, no, but I am like, I am. You hide it well. Yeah, by the way, like, I just, I don't know. I like, I care about what I'm doing and like, but I don't think that that's totally true all the time.

I think I get lost. I think I'm probably more interesting than I am sometimes. I think that I probably don't believe in myself as much as I probably should sometimes. And I go back and forth all the time. And I try and find. work that says that, you know, and I just can't move from that in my work, you know. And then as a result of that, like I said, some of those movies on that IMDB list are not that good. Some of them are, I'm more proud of than anything I've done, you know. Maybe I like the bad ones then.

Don't judge me. No, but I mean, also, and this is, I hope this isn't like a, like a, you know, passing it on, but I think you allow for somebody to be themselves, right? So, and that is a testament to you and being interviewed by you that I can feel comfortable and do that, you know, so thanks. Thank you. You make it easy too. Stick around to hear more from Jake Gyllenhaal on the Sunday Sit Down podcast, including how he's feeling ahead of opening night for that new Broadway play. Welcome back. Now more of my Sunday Sit Down conversation with Jake Gyllenhaal as we walk around the Hudson Theater a bit ahead of the premiere of his

new play, Seawall Alife. And let's just say there was still a little work to be done to get the place in shape. So what's the feeling? We're, as we stand here today, we're eight days from you being up there. Yeah. What does that feel like? Well, I mean, I've performed in this theater before. Yep. So it feels like home. But as soon as I see that like fire curtain and I see these seats, I get really excited. It makes me, it's like really exciting. Is it nerves? Is it excitement, a combination of both?

It's both, but I feel really sure about our show, and I feel like it works, and I just can't wait people to see it. I mean, yeah, of course. Is it going to work here? It's yet to be seen. But I mean, I think that I'm like, I'm like, I want to lift it up so you can see it.

They got to hide it. Yeah. And you reopen Hudson Theater in 2017. Yeah. Sundays in the park with George. Yeah. See, this is kind of like home field for you. It really is.

These seats were a lot more yellow when we like open, but they are still like such a beautiful theater. Yeah, we opened it and it was, that was, wow. Is that bad? That's part of the show. That's part of the show. Just wait to come and things will fly over me. Wow.

Wear your hard hat when you come. Wow. Make sure you come, but wear a hard hat. Clearly, wow. Finishing touches is all. Oddly, it's entertaining, isn't it? It is. So just watch things fall from the sky.

For a second, I did think it was part of the show, and I could not wait to him see it. It might just be, like, you have no idea. I could call Carrie Greckon and be like, I'm going to film this and you should see how cool it looks. Maybe things should fall. It is kind of cool, isn't it? It is kind of cool.

Yeah. So when you walk out on the stage, eight nights from now, and you look out, you see a full house. What's that going to feel like to have moved this from the public to Broadway? Man, I don't know what it is. You make me cry. It's, I feel really responsible to my author and his work.

And what he's given me and how vulnerable he's been in sharing what he shares and what he wrote and how beautiful it is. And to be able to be up there saying the words again to all these people, it feels like it's trying. You know, I just like, that's the best way I could put it. I can't wait. And also, as Tim Small from the Sky, it's a triumph. A total triumph. The theater is completely falling apart. The roof literally caving in. Yeah, like, what is that? What is that movie? We are in that Tom Hanks movie about the house. Money Pit. We're in Money Pit. Yeah, it's great. This is insane. Because when I first saw it, those little pieces of ceiling that were falling from the sky, I thought that was a new design that I hadn't seen.

But no, it's just pieces of ceiling falling from the sky. This is going to be more exciting than we even knew if you come to see this play. In truth, I think they're putting the lights up, and this is a common occurrence. Yes, this is totally normal, guys. Won't happen if you come. It's cool. It's just so cool. I can't even. It's my dream since I was in two.

to be on Broadway. I've been on Broadway now three times, and every time it feels like the first time. So, you know, what Biggie said, that's how it should feel, and that's how it feels. Congratulations, man. Thank you. Thank you for the time.

It's great. I'll let you finish with the ceiling. Yeah, I'm going to go to figure out what's going on. Get up there on a scaffolding. Yeah. Does anybody have a broom? My thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal for a great conversation, his new play, Seawall Alight, in previews now on Broadway, with shows starting August 8th and running through late September.

And thanks to all of you for tuning in again this week. If you want to hear more of the full-length conversations with my guests every week, make sure to click subscribe so you never miss an episode. And don't forget, of course, to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.