The actor Jake Gyllenhaal called “a ray of light”
Born into a family well-connected in Hollywood, Jake Gyllenhaal was practically destined to become a star. His parents both worked as directors and screenwriters and as a result, some of his earliest roles were in their movies, such as A Dangerous Woman and Homegrown.
However, in 2001, he landed the lead role in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko, a mysterious thriller in which he played the titular character. He is visited by a terrifying figure wearing a rabbit costume who tells him that the world is going to end, and chaos naturally ensues. It was his breakthrough role, and within a few years, he was securing jobs in more acclaimed movies like Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead, and Zodiac.
Gyllenhaal has had an incredibly successful career in the following years, working with many big stars. However, in some cases, he truly connected with or admired the actor he was appearing alongside, which made the experience of shooting even greater.
In 2005, he played Corporal Anthony Swofford in Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes. Based on the memoir of the real Swofford, the film is set during the Persian Gulf War. Alongside Gyllenhaal was Scott MacDonald, Lucas Black, Brian Geraghty, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jamie Foxx.
It was the latter who Gyllenhaal was impressed by, telling the BBC that the actor was like a “ray of light”. Foxx played Staff Sergeant Sykes, who offered Swofford a chance to attend a Scout Sniper course after he initially struggled to excel during his time at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Foxx gave a great performance – one that is actually rather underrated.
Gyllenhaal explained Foxx’s brilliance, “I think he’s like a ray of light – no pun intended, but I really do. Whenever he is around, there is an air of positivity. I remember two days before the Academy Awards, we were shooting the scene in the oil,” he recalled. He was referring to the fact that Foxx would win ‘Best Actor’ at the Oscars for playing Ray Charles in the biopic Ray that year.
That same year, Foxx was also nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ after giving a fantastic performance in Collateral. While his turn in Jarhead went relatively under the radar and failed to pick up any awards, Gyllenhaal thought Foxx was a true professional.
Gyllenhaal continued, “It wasn’t oil but burnt molasses, brown sugar and black food dye. We were all covered in it and Jamie was sitting there on this really windy, cold day for something like two hours while they were figuring out something with the rain machine. He didn’t say much of anything, but gave a smile or made a joke here and there.”
The actor was impressed by how composed and dedicated Foxx was. “I thought, ‘this man is about to win the Academy Award and he is covered in oil and he is still having a good time and not a complaint is coming out of his mouth.’”
Foxx seemed to show the rest of the cast how it was done: “That was how it was from the very beginning. Even Sam [Mendes] would use it as an example when he was punishing us.”
