A few weeks ago, during an interview with Tilda Swinton, I casually inquired about her new film with director Bong Joon-Ho, “Okja.” The duo had previously collaborated on “Snowpiercer” and Swinton’s eyes literally lit up when I mentioned their new project. This week I sat down with Jake Gyllenhaal to talk about his role in Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals.” Gyllenhaal also stars in “Okja,” however, and when I mentioned the film in the context of a question about “Nocturnal” his eyes also lit up like he’d just won his first Academy Award (someday Jake).
That’s pretty much the definition of a trend alert.
Gyllenhaal says that he and Bong have been friends for years. The Korean filmmaker had seen Gyllenhaal’s breakout role in “Donnie Darko” and sat down with the then young actor before he shot “The Host” intent on eventually working with him.
READ MORE: First Look: Tilda Swinton & Giancarlo Esposito In Bong Joon-Ho’s ‘Okja’
“We tried for a decade to do something and then we were meeting up about another project, another thing he was producing,” Gyllenhaal explains. “We were sitting in New York maybe a year and a half ago, maybe a little more. And I said, ‘What are you working on?’ And he tells me, ‘I’m drawing these drawings for a movie I’m thinking about doing’ and he shows me this picture of this… creature and this little Korean girl next to the creature. I asked, ‘What is that?’ ‘I’m thinking of making a children’s movie.’ ‘Is there a part for me?’ And he was like, ‘Hmmmm, I think maybe. Let me get back to you.’ And then he was like, ‘There is a part for you.’ I said, ‘I don’t care I’ll do it. I don’t even need to read it.’ And then I read it and it was so great. He’s like, ‘It’s this doctor and he’s a mad man and he has an animal show.’ And I was like, ‘I’m already in!’”
Ahn Seo-hyun, a young Korean actress that Gyllenhaal describes as “incredible”, plays the aforementioned lead character. He also confirms both he and Swinton have supporting roles in the film that shot in Vancouver, New York and Korea.
Look for more on Gyllenhaal’s thoughts on “Nocturnal Animals” next week.
