Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalez & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the ambulance
With director Michael BayThe best movie in years ambulancewhich is now playing in theaters, I recently overheard an extensive interview Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalezand Yahya Abdul Mateen II which covered many different topics. In the first part of the interview (which you can view here), they talked about what it was like working with Bay, how quickly he changes, what they film, shooting the intense surgical scene in the ambulance, what it was like working with the drones and much more about the making of ambulance.
In tonight’s episode, Gyllenhaal, González and Abdul-Mateen II talk about how they ever prepared for a role, what made them the most difficult, and what’s the first thing to watch if you’ve never seen their work.
ambulance based on the 2005 Dutch film of the same name Laurits Münch-Petersen and Lars Andreas Pedersen. Bay’s film, which was written by Chris Fedak, follows Will Sharp (Abdul-Mateel II), a retired veteran who needs money for his wife’s surgery. He goes to his adoptive brother Danny (Gyllenhaal), who involves him in a robbery that quickly goes awry, leaving them running away from the police in an ambulance with a critically ill LAPD officer and a paramedic (González) as hostages.
Watch what Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza González and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II had to say in the player above, or read exactly what they had to say below.
COLLIDER: Jake always knows how my questions determine how much I enjoyed a movie.
JAKE GYLLENHAAL: Very true.
Right? He informed me about it. You do not have to worry. This is a damn good movie. sorry for my swearing I apologize.
GYLLENHAAL: No. This is actually another telltale sign.
Yes.
EIZA GONZÁLEZ: That’s good.
GYLLENHAAL: Cursing you is actually an affirmation.
Do you understand what I mean?
GYLLENHAAL: There you go.
Look, I’ve got tons of questions and they’re everywhere, so let’s get started. For all three of you, if someone has actually never seen anything you’ve done before, what’s the first thing you want to show them and why?
YAHYA ABDUL-MATEEN II: A movie called All day and one night because that’s the closest thing I’ve ever seen in a movie. I have maybe three or four scenes in it, but I think it’s beautiful. I play a lot of characters, but that’s probably the closest I’ve got to seeing in the film, the closest I’ve seen to myself.
GONZÁLEZ: I would say I care a lot. i really like I care a lotand I think it’s the first film that I’ve had the opportunity to play a more grounded, realistic character and not…baby driver opened a door for me and characters that were big and very… character pieces. This is more of a grounded performance and it’s a bit like a love story. It feels more along the lines of what I love to do, the things I love to do
GYLLENHAAL: bubble boy.
GONZALEZ: Yes. 100%.
GYLLENHAAL: Absolutely, I think. It’s a good introduction.
I would agree.
GONZÁLEZ: I agree with that too.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: It was my introduction.
GONZÁLEZ: It’s mine too.
GYLLENHAAL: Was that it?
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Yes.
GONZALEZ: Yes. bubble boy.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: There we go.
GYLLENHAAL: You still wanted to work with me, so go ahead.
GONZÁLEZ: Here we are.
GYLLENHAAL: There you go.
For all three of you, what’s the best thing you’ve actually prepared for a role that you’ve done?
ABDUL-MATEEN II: The preparation is so different from job to job. Sometimes it’s physics. Sometimes there is so much effort to change my body physically. Another time it was the effort of learning a new language, of being able to speak a new language. It really all depends. You want an answer.
I would like one, but I didn’t have to get one.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Yes. I think this will be my answer.
GONZÁLEZ: I have prepared a lot baby driver because I was really nervous, and funnily enough he’s talking about language and it was a language that made me feel very stressed because obviously English is my second language and it was my first film ever in another language. I was really nervous and I was walking into a set with really incredible actors and I really wanted to be at the level they were at. I really, really, really, really over-prepared, even for my audition.
GYLLENHAAL: It’s so difficult. I can’t even imagine doing a film in another language.
GONZÁLEZ: It’s hard. That was really difficult too. I would say that for the language because it’s all medical jargon and it needs to be absolutely seamless. Of course, that got really challenging when we were in an ambulance going at 100 mph. You’re so stressed out about it that you can’t even really think about language.
GYLLENHAAL: I have two answers to that. I’d say maybe the longest was literally as I was preparing and trying to learn how to box for it southpaw, but the more philosophical answer to what I know will interest you, Steve, is: I think you’re always preparing for the next role, and every single one is about preparing for the next. You carry everything you have in your life with you and bring it to your work, and you continue to learn and grow. Every thing you drag all other things with you.
What was the most difficult take you’ve ever done in any of your films, either for camera reasons or performance reasons or a mixture of camera and performance? Is there one that you will always remember like, “Oh my god. That was another level?”
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Well, I can give you the literal answer, which probably has something to do with it Aquaman. It’s the first Aquaman and I’m shooting in this tank that’s going under. I need to end the moment with my dad and then get to the other side of the tank before I’m fully submerged. When I’m at the end of the take, it’s like my mouth is watering. It was technically difficult to pull off, but I think we’re always in the middle of the toughest takes of our lives and we’re always preparing for the next take, because life throws goals at you and you have to be willing to take them.
GONZÁLEZ: I think for me acting wise it was a very tough scene to shoot. I don’t want to spoil it. In I care a lot Something happens to her and I really need to cry and it’s a very emotional scene and it really got me hooked. So it was really, really hard to break away from the scene after that. And then physically, I would say, funnily enough, it’s underwater too. I made this film. When I started the film, I had an accident. I broke my collarbone and three ribs. When we finished the movie I had to do this stunt underwater in a tank and I did jujitsu underwater complete with weights.
GYLLENHAAL: With broken ribs?
GONZÁLEZ: That was my third month. I had recovered. We left it until the last day of shooting, but I really wanted to do it. I really pushed my team because they wanted to do it with someone else. It was very physically challenging and scary, but I was very satisfied when I saw the final cut. It was worth it.
GYLLENHAAL: Actually nothing.
Nothing at all. I could see that.
GONZÁLEZ: Nothing is really difficult for Jake.
GYLLENHAAL: Not really. Look, it’s acting, so I don’t know if you can call that hard, but I do remember a scene in that movie Stronger I didn’t do that because it was difficult for me, but it’s difficult to think of someone actually going through it. I think in acting and performing that sometimes it’s weird to be in that space and then trying to do that service because you’re pretending you’re just pretending. Getting into that space, trying to understand what was real, something that actually happened, that’s hard.
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https://collider.com/jake-gyllenhaal-eiza-gonzalez-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-ambulance-interview/ Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalez & Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in the ambulance