Jake Gyllenhaal explains how Christopher Nolan rejection changed his career
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal has discussed his feelings at previously losing out on two major film roles and how it proved to be beneficial in the long run. The Hollywood star revealed that he missed out during the final casting rounds for Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!
Concerning the latter film, for the role of Christian, Gyllenhaal was up against Ewan McGregor and his future Brokeback Mountain co-star Heath Ledger. When Gyllenhaal appeared on The Howard Stern Show recently, he opened up on his mixed emotions at losing the roles.
“What I felt was disappointment when I didn’t get [Moulin Rouge!]. Both Heath and I were disappointed,” Gyllenhaal said. “But that’s Ewan McGregor’s part. You learn to go, ‘There’s another one. I can try and go in and audition for another one. I’ll get something else.’ You keep that attitude.”
A few years later, Gyllenhaal again lost out on another big job, that time to Christian Bale for the first part of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy. The actor stayed strong, though, which also came down to the fact that both Nolan and Luhrmann offered their personal condolences over the phone.
He noted, “Both of those directors called me personally to tell me. And they will tell you why. When you get that far, there’s a real legitimacy to you potentially getting something. It’s not like they’re going, ‘Oh, thanks so much.’ They are going, ‘I saw these aspects of you that I really wanted in the role and are wonderful, but in the end, I ended up moving this way because it matches better with this person who is opposite you or would be opposite you.'”
Gyllenhaal made the decision not to pick apart the rejection but to use it as a motivator, thinking to himself, “I just got a call personally from Christopher Nolan. That’s pretty cool. I’ve gotten pretty far.”
He added, “I went from them going they aren’t sure [about me] to a call saying they’re really thinking about you for this movie. So okay, I should keep going. I should just keep going.”
It was that stoic nature that landed Gyllenhaal his big roles in the likes of Brokeback Mountain and Jarhead, even though he’d been very keen on playing Batman for Christopher Nolan.
Still, it was Nolan’s rejection that seemed to spur the actor on into the success that he’s enjoyed since the mid-2000s, a success that looks like it’s going to continue for some time.
Watch Gyllenhaal’s conversation on the Howard Stern Show below.
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