Jake Gyllenhaal says he’s ‘learned so much’ from working with military veterans during his career
‘I think it changed my view of the world’: Jake Gyllenhaal says he ‘learned so much’ from working with military veterans during his career
Jake Gyllenhaal says he’s learned a lot from working with veterans and experts over the course of his career, playing a number of military roles.
Gyllenhaal, 42, chatted with the AP on Monday on the red carpet of his new movie The Covenant at the Directors Guild Of America in Los Angeles.
The Oscar-nominated actor has starred in a number of military-themed films in the past, such as 2005’s Jarhead, 2009’s Brothers, and 2011’s Source Code.
The Los Angeles native, who plays U.S. Army Special Forces Sergeant John Kinley in director Guy Ritchie’s upcoming movie, said he’s gradually gained more knowledge about the military with each project.
“At the beginning of my career, I played a Marine, a recruit, and I got to know and learn from a lot of people in the military,” the actor said on the red carpet at the premiere.
The latest: Jake Gyllenhaal, 42, says he’s learned a lot from working with veterans and experts over the course of his career, playing a number of military roles. He was pictured at the premiere of The Covenant Monday in LA
Gyllenhaal said his experiences making the films influenced his views on life.
“I think it changed my view of the world just being around and touching that world a little bit,” he said.
Gyllenhaal said he is naturally drawn to portraying military figures, whom he admires for their bravery and sacrifices for the country.
“I’ve played people my whole career who are ex-military, people who had a history in that, and I learned so much from that group,” he said. “And there’s so much pride and love, the people who defend our freedom – that I’m drawn to that story.”
Gyllenhaal told the AP he’s attracted to roles of people operating under “extreme conditions,” who he says “bring out the humanity in people.”
He added, “There are no better characters in extreme conditions than a soldier in particular, so maybe that’s why I’m drawn to it.”
In The Covenant, Gyllenhaal’s character’s life is saved by an Afghan interpreter named Ahmed (played by Dar Salim), and returns to the combat zone to save the man after he and his family are not taken to the United States, as previously agreed. .
The film is not based on a true story, but uses details from news stories with real life accounts of interpreters and their experiences after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The film, which also stars Sean Sagar, Jason Wong and Rhys Yates, hits theaters on Friday.
The Los Angeles native plays US Army Special Forces Sergeant John Kinley in the upcoming film from director Guy Ritchie
Gyllenhaal played Tommy Cahill in the 2009 war drama Brothers
The actor, featured in the 2005 movie Jarhead, said he’s naturally drawn to playing military figures, whom he admires for their bravery and sacrifices to the country.