The star of “Nightcrawler” Jake Gyllenhaal has been accused of displaying erratic behavior on a movie set. In an interview with Technikart, Thomas Bidegain, a French screenwriter who is well known for his works in the 2010 movie “A Prophet,” and 2013’s “Rust and Bone,” and fellow screenwriter Valentine Monteil, shared the story of how they tried and failed to work with the star “Prince of Persia.”
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It happened that Thomas, 55, who has always worked with French actors, wanted to change gears for a minute and work with American actors.
To do so, he decided to create a movie that would involve just two characters that were lost on an island following a shipwreck, the movie was to tell the story of love and survival.
Although he already had the picture of what he wanted to accomplish, he still invited the services of Valentine, a beginner screenwriter to help put the story into shape.
The producer went on to tell the outlet that the first version of the script was completed quickly and was given an English title “Suddenly” before it was handed to producer Alain Attal.
Jake Gyllenhaal — Thomas And Valentine’s Meeting With Jake
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The second version was completed in March 2020 when the pandemic was at its peak. After its completion, the “Spider-Man: Far From Home” actor reached out to Thomas and asked to co-write Alexander Payne’s next screenplay and he obliged.
The Film Director said that at the time, he had already begun thinking about casting “Suddenly,” so he took the opportunity to send a copy of the script to Jack whom he “admired.”
A month later, Jake reached out to him again. In his words, “One evening, I received a phone call from Jake. He finds the scenario wonderful, touching, and assures that he wants to be part of the adventure. I open the champagne, I’m in my manic phase.”
Thomas said they spent over a year trying to re-write and fine-tune the story to Jake’s taste and that the actor was so overly excited with the project that he became a “co-producer of the project.“
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Haven got one out of the two characters, they began seeking the second character which will be female. They reached out to actresses like Margot Robbie, Jodie Comer, etc., “We soon arrive at a version that satisfies everyone and Jake brings Vanessa Kirby, with whom he filmed in Everest.”
Jake Gyllenhaal — On Jake’s Allegedly Erratic Behaviors
Thomas shared that the day they were scheduled to meet, Vanessa arrived by plane to Iceland on the appointed day but the reverse was the case with Jake. Jake vehemently refused to fly to Reykjavik for fear of COVID-19 even though there was low rate of the pandemic in Iceland.
Jake finally chose to drive six hours to the hotel but on the condition that he be given a car that is “neither red nor white.”
The “Ambulance” actor later arrived with another screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire and said his job was to polish the English dialogue. Jake’s demeanor was “distant” and he also refused to take off his face mask. Later on, he went to address them with a long speech “Everyone in this room is extremely talented, but we’re going to have to work. And keep an open mind. With David, we considered many changes…”
The second day, the “Brothers” actor flared up over a minor time issue because he was uncertain whether the meeting was for 9:30 or 10:00 am. While onset, Jake made lots of complaints like, nature not being threatening enough, or the land not being high or low enough.
Valentine chipped in to say that the actor at some point began talking “a lot about the TRUTH, insisting that his character be a former GI, used to survival… For example, for a scene on the boat, he sells us the idea that he slaps a fish.”
On the third day, Jake threatened to quit the film but later reconciled with Thomas. The following day, Jake went to explore nature alone, and upon his return, he was filled with inspiration, “He soon put a speech by Greta Thunberg on his computer, with rock music in the background,” recounted Thomas before adding that at some point, Jake broke down in tears, “I’m crying, I’m crying, it’s real tears!”
The sudden display of emotion got Valentine laughing underneath her mask as she told the outlet, “It was the biggest laugh of my life. Jake tells us that this is not a film about love, but a film about the love of nature. He declares that everything must be rewritten, all declarations of love must be declarations to nature.
I see Thomas saying to himself that he is losing his 26 million. He then leans towards me and says: “How do you say get fucked in Iceland? Because that’s exactly what just happened…”
The final time Jake threatened to quit was on the fourth day but instead of trying to sort things out, Thomas told him to “Go ahead!” Few weeks later, Vanessa reached out to Thomas and offered to buy the script from him so that she could do it with Jake and without Thomas. “I talk to Alain Attal about it and suggest selling it to them. He answers me: “Never in life, we’re pissing them off, you’re going to rewrite it in French and we’re going to shoot it with great French actors.”
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