Jake Gyllenhaal On How Losing Batman Role Fueled His Motivation
Jake Gyllenhaal had come close to some serious franchise roles early in his career only to lose out in the final round. The Oscar-nominated actor, who can now be seen in the Roadhouse remake on Prime Video, recently talked about what drove him harder when being let down.
Talking to Howard Stern, Gyllenhaal said that losing out on Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge helped him become more motivated in landing roles he believed in. He also praised both directors for coming to him personally and telling him he didn’t get the roles and 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,” he said. “The color of their hair or their height, whatever it is. There are all these non factors that really are the inexplicable stuff that if you start to pick away at it doesn’t work, it’s not healthy.”