Jake Gyllenhaal has gone all ‘Tom Hardy/Bane’ on us for his new role in ‘Southpaw.’
Director Antoine Fuqua said this about Jake’s transformation:
“Two people have done this in their lives – Robert De Niro in Raging Bull and Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. Those kinds of guys are rare.”
“I had him training twice a day in the boxing ring. He did two-a-days seven days a week. I pretty much had him with me and my trainer every day. I took him to almost every fight. I had him train at Floyd Mayweather’s gym in Vegas and we watched Floyd’s fights and the Manny Pacquiao fight. He trained in New York at Church Gym with real fighters. We literally turned him into a beast. Jake, my God, he’s a very electric, powerful fighter in this movie and a guy who fights for his daughter. I’m confident that this will change how people see Jake, as a leading man.”
I would’ve never thought of Gyllenhaal for a boxing role but he has seemed to embrace the challenge, which will probably make for a great flick.