Studio Finally Breaks Silence on Jake Gyllenhaal’s Erratic Behavior on the Sets of Troubled Movie
Jake Gyllenhaal is regarded as one of the finest actors in the industry whose breakthrough performances in 1999’s October Sky and 2001’s Donnie Darko made him a household name. Son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Jake Gyllenhaal has over the years proved why he is the best at what he does.
The actor has appeared in critically acclaimed movies, including Brokeback Mountain, Zodiac, Love & Other Drugs, Prisoners, Nightcrawler, and more. Jake Gyllenhaal portrayed the character of Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio in MCU’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, for which he was highly appreciated by the audience and the critics. A French filmmaker recently addressed the rumors about a movie starring Gyllenhaal being scrapped due to his ‘erratic behavior’.
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Thomas Bidegan recalls Jake Gyllenhaal as ‘extremely involved’ in the now-scrapped project Suddenly
French filmmaker Thomas Bidegan, in a recent interview with Technikart, had opened up about how, for his sophomore directorial debut, he decided to adapt a book by author Isabelle Autissier. Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby were finalized for the 2021 movie titled Suddenly, which was supposed to be a survival movie but was canceled in just four days of production.
The filmmaker mentions that after Gyllenhaal was on board with the project, the script was rewritten and refined for the actor. He added that the actor was extremely involved in the project as he was excited about the project and had ended up being a co-producer on the project.
During the interview, Bidegan mentioned that the actor, upon his arrival in Iceland, had demanded changes in the script. He added that it was very ironic for him to witness two extremely talented actors reading a moving love scene like cartoon character Pépé the patois. He further adds,
“Jake talks 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.”
Thomas Bidegan notes that after taking a walk in nature, Gyllenhaal tried to convince them to change the movie’s focus from a love story to more nature-focused. Writer Valentine Monteil mentioned during the interview,
“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 26 million. He then leans towards me and says; ‘How do you say get f*cked in Iceland? Because that’s exactly what just happened.’”
Bidegan notes that, terrified of COVID at the time, Gyllenhaal insisted on the builders sleep in their cars and called everyone incompetent, threatening to leave the movie. The filmmaker, who was exhausted by his negotiations and behavior, simply told him to go ahead and leave the project.
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Source claims Thomas Bidegan’s Jake Gyllenhaal starrer was never ‘green lit’
According to reports by AV Club, representatives for the actor Jake Gyllenhaal and StudioCanal have released a statement after Thomas Bidegan’s interview; with a source mentioning that the movie was never green lit. The statement read;
“Creative differences are very normal, if unfortunate, regularities in film development. In this case, there were concerns, which simply could not be overcome despite great efforts on both sides. We greatly value all our relationships at Studio Canal and are happy that Thomas Bidegan was able to fulfill his vision on the French language version of Suddenly.”
The statement further read,
“We remain deeply committed to our working partnerships with both Thomas Bidegan and Jake Gyllenhaal, with whom we have always enjoyed a very strong creative relationship.”
The reports from AV Club note that a source mentioned neither Gyllenhaal nor Kirby were satisfied with the script, adding that their trip to Iceland was a part of the development process. The source added that the movie was never green-lit.
Thomas Bidegan ended up making Suddenly Alone in France with Gilles Lellouche and Mélanie Laurent. He, however, shared with Variety that when they started working on the movie, they realized that they did not have the same vision for the movie. He explained that he understood the changes, but they had a completely different message of the movie, which at the end of the day didn’t work for either of them.
Suddenly Alone was released in France in December 2023, but no date for US release has been announced.
