Jake Gyllenhaal Opens Up About Training to Become a Cop for New Movie 'End of Watch'
Aug. 7 2012, Published 7:50 a.m. ET
Jake Gyllenhaal is looking scruffy (and a lot more mature than usual) with a brand new beard on the September cover of Details magazine.
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While Jakey got his start doing offbeat films like Donnie Darko, he's been churning out ultra-masculine, drama and action flicks as of late. In next month's End of Watch, he plays a cop marked for death after making some arrests within a drug cartel.
While the actor got into amazing shape for his role in the pre-Desert Storm drama, Jarhead, training for this movie was just as much psychological as physical.
"Five months of training for a 22 day shoot. Three nights a week in ride-alongs with cops. Fight training every morning at a KenboKarate dojo, and I got the sh*t kicked out of me. Then the shooting range, shooting past each other’s heads, with live ammo," he told the magazine. "There’s a simulated fire in the movie, but Dave (the Director) wanted us to feel what that’s like, so he had us do a controlled burn… a Saturday where me and Michael Pena drive down to Orange County, dressed like firemen head-to-toe, and suddenly we’re there just sit- ting in the middle of a burning building."
The interview took on an introspective tone as the Love and Other Drugs actor mused about how much he loves directing and how being part of a showbiz family has really fueled his thirst for all things movies (sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal and his parents work behind the camera).
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More than ever, the actor is looking to push his limits in new ways, even if it's a little bit scary.
"Every journey starts with fear. And I could say that’s what I want to embrace now. A real experience," he said. "And I want, overall, to trust what I know is right. There have been many times when I haven’t. It’s what I’m asking myself: Where is the line? What is the line? There’s so much context, it can be almost impossible to find.”
End of Watch hits theaters on Sept. 21.