CEBU, Philippines – When Jake Gyllenhaal takes on a movie role, he really commits. Hours after photos surfaced showing a nearly unrecognizable and incredibly buff Gyllenhaal on the set of his new movie “Southpaw,” ET caught up with the actor at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. This is the second movie in a row for which he drastically changed his physical appearance – he lost 30 pounds to play sociopathic cameraman Lou Bloom in “Nightcrawler.”
“The most interesting thing is getting inside the head of a character,” the 33-year-old said of his on-screen transformations. “If someone has written something that demands you to shape yourself into the character they’ve written, that kind of challenge is I think interesting to watch and it’s why I do what I do.”
The dedication could soon pay off for Gyllenhaal. The actor is getting serious award season buzz for his performance and it appears he has another big year ahead with “Southpaw.”
In the Antoine Fuqua-directed film, Gyllenhaal takes on the role of Billy Hope, a boxer who fights his way to the top of his sport, only to find his life falling apart around him.
“Jake is going to change how people see him,” Fuqua said. “I had him training twice a day in the boxing ring, he did two-a-day, seven days a week. I pretty much had him with me and my trainer every day. I took him to almost every fight. I had him train at Floyd Mayweather’s gym in Vegas and we watched Floyd’s fights, and the Manny Pacquiao fight. He trained in New York at Church Gym with real fighters. We literally turned him into a beast.”
But don’t think Gyllenhaal does it for the buzz or recognition; he admits he relishes in taking on the life of a character.
“You really go, ‘Oh wow. I spent a little time in the mind of someone I would never be like,’” he said. “Somehow you really kind of understand, even if the character you’re playing is somewhat despicable.”