Jake Gyllenhaal Had A Good Reason To Be Terrified By His New Co-Star
Jake Gyllenhaal might not have been comfortable shooting his latest film, especially when it came to some of the stunts with his co-star
Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in a Michael Bay film, something that might not have seemed all that likely in the Hollywood scheme of things. But here we are on the verge of Ambulance and if nothing else, the movie looks like a pretty wild ride. With the adrenaline being pretty high, it makes sense that there would be some tenser moments on the set, especially considering some of the stunts. Well, recently, Gyllenhaal sat down and let on that there were times that he didn’t totally trust one of his co-stars, though it does make sense in the context of the film.
In an interview with Yahoo, Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen talked about their time filming Ambulance together and what it meant to actually be behind the wheel performing some of the stunts. Abdul-Mateen reflected on it positively, letting on that it was almost surreal to see himself on the big screen and know that he was the one actually driving the titular vehicle in some of the scenes. But then when Gyllenhaal was asked about the same thing, he gave a decidedly different answer, though most of it was just in good fun. Check out what he had to say:
“I had a little more faith in his stunt driver…I’m of the belief that you leave the acting the actor and the stunts to the stuntmen and women…In the end it actually was really fun… I trust Yahya. I trust him in a scene as an actor and I trust him with my safety — about 75% of the time.”
Most of this was all in good fun and there’s little reason to suspect that Jake Gyllenhaal was in any way concerned with his safety for the film, even with Yahya Abdul-Mateen behind the wheel of the ambulance in the movie. Though with Michael Bay behind the lens, you know that the action is going to be dialed up to the hilt so maybe there were a few more clenching moments than on the normal movie set. After all, the trailer for the film definitely gives the sense that this thing is full throttle nearly from beginning to end. It appears to be highly stylized and sets out to accomplish one thing: be a chase film through and through. In some ways, this is why we have the big screen.
Ambulance stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen as Danny and Will Sharp, adopted brothers who’ve taken some decidedly different paths in life. When Will has to cover a major medical expense to save the life of his wife he turns to career-criminal Danny for a little help. The latter offers the chance at a major score, a robbery that will set both of them straight basically forever. But of course, the whole thing goes sideways and they end up commandeering an ambulance with an EMT (Eiza Gonzalez) and the cop they shot in the heist. Such begins a high-speed chase through Los Angeles.
Jake Gyllenhaal and company will open Ambulance in the United States on April 8th. The critical response so far has been trending very positively with it sitting at 74% on Rotten Tomatoes through 35 reviews. Most critics seem to agree that though it’s a bit light on the story (this is Michael Bay after all), the tension, stunts, and performances of the three leads win the day. Even if they didn’t always trust each other with the different stunts and driving.
