Gyllenhaal on the ‘Life’ fantastic
Actor talks about role in ‘beautifully paced and terrifying’ space thriller
WHEN Jake Gyllenhaal picks up a screenplay he has his own litmus test that helps convince him of its merits. Quite simply, if he can’t stop turning the pages, he knows it’s a winner.
The script for the epic, terrifying space thriller Life was, he said in an interview with Sony Entertainment recently, “beautifully paced and terrifying” and he read it through in one session.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) from an original script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool), Gyllenhaal joined a stellar cast to play astronaut Dr David Jordan, one of a team whose mission is to examine an alien life form – a single-cell organism – found on Mars and brought to the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting Earth, for research.
On board the ISS, the six-man crew are trapped with this creature which interacts with each of them in a different way in a battle for survival.
“There are some very interesting psychological aspects underpinning the story. It’s a wonderful screenplay and truly a wonderful director who can do both the simple and the complex.”
Gyllenhaal’s character is a world-weary doctor who, at first, is intrigued by the discovery – the first proof of extraterrestrial life – and what it might represent.
“I play a character who doesn’t find it as scary as other people. I think my character is a little bit more curious in terms of what this thing is – he’s curious about how to communicate with it and he’s fascinated with its darkness and intention.”
Gyllenhaal is joined by Ryan Reynolds as mechanic Rory Adams and Rebecca Ferguson is British scientist Dr Miranda North, a specialist in controlled diseases. Ariyon Bakare is Hugh Derry, a British microbiologist who is the first to examine the “specimen”. Hiroyuki Sanada is Japanese flight engineer Sho Murakami and the team is led by Russian commander Ekaterina Golovkina, played by Olga Dihovichnaya.
Working with the entire cast was clearly a delight for Gyllenhaal and he has become close friends with Reynolds.
“I think he is a true artist and an unconventional one. He’s on a stage that’s very big, a lot of people play on it in a very conventional way, and he has defied convention and I respect him as an artist but also as a human being.”
Life was filmed at Shepperton Studios outside London where production designer Nigel Phelps and his team created detailed replicas of the interiors of the real ISS.
“The design was extraordinary. There were moments when we would have a black tarp outside the windows and I would look out through one of the windows and I would sometimes feel as if I were actually in space.
“There would just be this vast void of nothingness, of blackness, that I have heard so many astronauts speak about.”
The actors had to mimic the zero gravity that astronauts at the ISS experience. “I think it will be a pretty incredible experience for the audience as well,” Gyllenhaal said.
“To realise there is no up, there’s no down, there’s no right or left – everything is constantly changing and turning and I think that idea is really a metaphor for the whole movie.
“The unknown is in every corner and every shadow in this film – and this film is filled with shadows. And some of the characters are scared of the shadows and some embrace them and each has different fates as a result.
“Just as I did when I finished the screenplay, I think the audience will walk out and will be a little more hesitant turning that corner. Because these things are real, these things may happen in the future and I think that’s a scary and exciting proposition.”
Working with Espinosa was hugely rewarding, he said, with the director insisting on rooting the story in reality wherever possible.
“It’s his overall vision and his sensitivity and vision for the film, that was the reason why I wanted to be a part of it. In the science fiction genre you often see movies that are terrifying or movies that are set in space where you don’t really believe the reality of the situation.
“And Daniel created an environment where everything was truly alive. I’m not just referring to the creature itself, but also [to the film being] truly alive emotionally.
“We have mapped many things, we have mapped the topography of our world and, as far as we can, the oceans. We have mapped other things but I don’t think we have mapped the unconscious and I don’t think we have mapped the universe.
“And in a way they are one and the same. The unconscious, our dream world, and also space has a similarity and I think that’s what this movie does so well – bring those two things together.”
Gyllenhaal was born in Los Angeles into a family steeped in filmmaking. His father is director Stephen Gyllenhaal and his mother is screenwriter and producer Naomi Foner. His older sister, Maggie, is also an acclaimed actress.
Gyllenhaal was nominated for a best supporting actor Academy Award and won a Bafta for his role in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. His upcoming films include Stronger, which he also produced, and Okja.
ý Life opens at Eastern Cape cinemas today.