Is it too early for an Oscar campaign? Never. Last December, we caught a first glimpse of Jake Gyllenhaal in character for Southpaw. He plays a welterweight boxer (meaning he’s heavier than lightweight but not quite to middleweight status) whose life hits a few rock bottoms. His wife gets killed, and he loses custody of their daughter. He has to fight his way back on all levels. Back in 2010, Kurt Sutter talked about the screenplay as a continuation of Eminem’s 8 Mile tale. The movie was originally supposed to star Eminem!
Plans changed, and the movie is now a prestige film. The Weinstein Company acquired the pic, which means Harvey smells Oscar potential. As Pajiba put it, “Southpaw has it all, y’all. It’s Rocky plus a drug-addiction story, a custody battle, a dead wife, another complete body-transformation for Gyllenhaal, and a director (Antoine Fuqua) who got Denzel his Oscar in Training Day.” Southpaw is total Oscar bait even though it comes out in July. Some summer movies (2012’s Beasts of the Southern Wild) do make the Oscar lists. And the Academy loves boxers and body transformations, so “check, check.” After Jake lost weight for Nightcrawler and gained weight back for Southpaw, he officially joins the legions of Christan Bale, Jared Leto, and Bradley Cooper in their Oscar-seeking ways.
Jake hasn’t said much about this film yet, but his trainer is talking. Former pro boxer Terry Claybon, spoke with Yahoo! to reveal Jake’s transformation madness. When all was said and done, Jake lost 30 pounds. Then he gained it all back and added 15 more. He worked out with real boxers for six months. For three hours every day, Jake boxed. Then he did “three hours of strengthening, conditioning, and cardio at night.” Every morning, Jake did 1,000 sit-ups. He ended his day with another 1,000. That was before filming even began. Will Jake Gyllenhaal’s gloves reach the same notorious heights as the beige booty shorts? I’m always amazed at how actors will go to such lengths for a gold statuette, but hey. Their bodies, their future metabolisms.
P.S. Jake signed on to this year’s Cannes jury. He joins Sienna Miller, Guillermo del Toro, Sophie Marceau, and Joel and Ethan Cohen.
Here’s the Southpaw trailer, which looks like a tear jerker for sure.
Photos courtesy of Weinstein Films, Fame/Flynet & WENN
And last year to act a paranoid paparazzi,he was all skinny
Jakey is very very thirsty and he may get a nod but he’s winning the Oscar.
If the Academy take up my earlier suggestion of trying to clean up their sport by testing actors for any performance or image enhancing medical procedures or drugs Jake might not be eligible for an Oscar.
Why would they? Nobody gives a crap.
He got shafted last year. It’s his time.
#GyllenPaw2016
I’m with you on that one, he was brilliant in “Nightcrawler”. I’m loving that movie poster, it looks like a still out of the TV “Spartacus”.
I still haven’t seen Nightcrawler but I’ve heard such great things about his performance. I’ve always been really fond of him so I’m happy to see his career on an uphill trajectory.
Creepy and mesmerizing
Nightcrawler was amazing!! And he was so damn creepy in it — awesome performance.
Watch it Kitten. It was so good. It’s been awhile since a movie left me wanting it to continue on for another hour or so. Like Lilac said…mesmerizing.
His performance was OK but the story had plotholes you could drive a truck through.
Definitely a more deserving performance than at least one that was nominated
Agreed. He was amazing. I think the weight loss actually hurt his chances, though, since so many people have been calling the Oscars out for awarding body modification (and prosthetics) over performances.
Yep he could do 1 sit up and I’d be all over him like a bad habit have loved him for ages. I also like how he’s handling his career and his choices.
Hanks and Bale have already discussed how this rapid back and forth shape-shifting has affected their bodies negatively. I can’t see why an Oscar makes it worth it. However, I don’t think that every actor/actress that does this is fishing for one. Sometimes they’re just trying to make a great movie. Then again, the Oscars wouldn’t know a great movie if it was liquified and smeared all over them. I just confused myself.
*sits in befuddled corner*
In the words noted theorist and scholar Amy Pascal, these people are ‘bottomless pits of need.’ The validation and attention they get from the potential award (and award season run) is probably irresistible.
To look physically credible is a huge part of actor work
I agree. I think actors can be just like anyone else when it comes to their job. I know I want to do the best I can at my job. And I feel a great sense of satisfaction at a job well done. Something I can look back on and think damn I’m good. It just so happens that for him to accomplish that, it includes not just acting like a boxer, but actually turning himself into a boxer i.e. body transformation.
I would actually love to train like a boxer, but I have a full time job and a part time job, so unless I’m willing to give up sleep (no), that’s not in the cards for me.
Well Jake’s face never recuperated from the weight loss so there’s that already.
Whew. That movie looks intense. But I feel like I’ve already seen it now — that trailer was way too detailed!
oops… supposed to respond to tater but got distracted by smearing and liquification.
Seems like a re-make of The Wrestler, just with a younger guy and a different, yet similar sport. Who gets the Marisa Tomei stripper girlfriend role?
Even though it’s Weinstein it’s not an Oscar picture with a summer date. That’s not happening.
I agree, July is a little early for an Oscar film, it could happen but I think the release date lessens its chances significantly.
Yeah and the studio would have given it a fall release if they thought it had any chance to win awards IMO. It’s probably more of a crowd pleaser kind of movie.
Weinstein has been known to buy things and bury them. Last year he buried Snowpiercer and Tracks and really didn’t promote Big Eyes
Snowpiercer was awful. I was conflicted watching it. It seemed like it had all needed to make it a great movie, but fell short by a mile.
Jake has been making amazing choices for his acting career and is really building a solid body of work. I am a huge fan of his acting and roles.
He has put together a stellar resume, but isn’t it amazing that up until very recently he was considered a flop because of Prince of Persia? Zodiac, End of Watch, Prisoners – he’s quietly put together a great body of work.
And as a side note, Edge of Tomorrow came on TV the other day, and all I kept thinking that the movie would have been a complete homerun if it had started Jake G instead of Tom Cruise.
I loved the understated detail he used in crafting his character in Prisoners, which is not a showy role. He was quietly amazing as that character and he held your interest in every scene even though so not a flashy role.. Just that blinking he chose to do was so effective and very thought out.
I’m with you on that! Plus, he doesn’t over-expose himself in the media and I appreciate that in actors. Makes them more interesting to watch!
He must have lived on the toilet, because that many crunches a day would have put his peristalsis movement into overdrive and given him major diarrhea.
Plus, honestly, he just looks liked he used some steroids plus exercise, like a lot of these actors use. The Oscars is turning into an award show for who can mutilate/ abuse their body the most for their craft. I guess they believe an actors must really suffer for their art.
Hasn’t this movie been done to death tho? It’s not my genre at all, but reading the reviews, etc of The Fighter, Million Dollar Baby- it’s like they are all interchangeable. Jake G I will always love for Brokeback Mt, so hope this training and whatever else, doesn’t compromise his long term health.
“And the Oscar for best abs goes to…” “I’d like to thank my trainers, my dietician, my cook, my plastic surgeon, my parents for the genes, my assistant who carries my water bottle……” hehe
I doubt he’ll even get nominated. The Academy seems to dislike him for some reason – he’s already changed his appearance for two amazing movies – End of Watch and Nightcrawler and changed his speech and walking patterns as well as facial expressions for another one – Prisoners and he wasn’t nominated for any of them. If Bradley Cooper starred in them, he would have been nominated for all three and probably had an Oscar by now.
This, totally.
The snub for Nightcrawler was especially painful
He should’ve won for Nightcrawler, that was hands down amazing. I’m not so sure this can top that performance, but I’m judging by the trailer only.
Oh FFS, I’m doing a triathlon this summer. Can I get some designer gowns, a few mil, and maybe a Golden Globe for that?
Would you settle for shin splints and blisters..maybe a tee shirt?
Congrats! I’ve got a friend that does the iron man almost every year unless there’s an injury. While holding a full time, demanding job. They’re on the bike (indoors) making conference calls. On a treadmill looking over spreadsheets. All for a race that you end up investing thousands of dollars in for the priviledge of saying you did it.
Jake only does this and not only is he paid very generously for it, but much of those costs are covered. Getting into this shape was his only job.
Ugh. Not Oscarworthy.
I work out 3 hours a day. And hold 2 jobs. Where’s my award? I’ll settle for a cookie.
I shall bake you that cookie every day, FLORC.
And I will eat that cookie every day leaving not a single crumb behind 😀
As an observation VC. I’ve always thought soeone who wants to improve the lives of many children in a farmlike community must know how to bake some awesome cookies.
that’s a lot of steroids. Working out? sure, but mainly steroids..typical veins and low body fat