When it comes to working with great directors, Jake Gyllenhaal has lived a blessed life.
Denis Villeneuve, Ang Lee, Bong Joon Ho – and soon his sister Maggie in her new Frankenstein film, The Bride, starring the one and only Christian Bale.
In an exclusive chat with UNILAD, we asked Gyllenhaal and Presumed Innocent co-star Nana Mensah about the greatest directors and creatives they’ve worked with.
The pair star together in the Apple TV show about a prosecutor, played by Gyllenhaal, who is accused of killing his co-worker – who it is revealed he was having an affair with.
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Gyllenhaal was effusive in his praise of Mensah, pointing to how much he loved her role in Broadway show Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.
Mensah added: “I feel like you were speaking more filmicity but yeah, doing that play.
“It was my Broadway debut and working with that cast and with that director, Whitney White and that writer Jocelyn Bioh, that writer - it was really, really beautiful.
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“Obviously I was so touched that Jake came and supported the show it was really nice.”
With matters turning to Gyllenhaal, he initially said: “I'm not one for bests, frankly, not within the creative space. But I would say there are so many experiences, it’s about moments for me.
“I’ve learned so much, I would say that I loved working with Denis Villeneuve”.
The pair worked together on Prisoners, the gripping thriller where Gyllenhaal starred opposite Hugh Jackman as police detective Loki.
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The actor was full of praise however for the directors on his new show Presumed Innocent.
He said: “I loved working with Anne Sewitsky you know, she directed our pilot and our second episode and the last episode and she's just such an incredible partner and so loving of actors and collaborative and inclusive and courageous.
"I had such a wonderful time working with her and also Greg Yaitanes who directed the other episodes in the show as well, like, they were just both so collaborative.
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“I think in the medium of television directors don't get enough I think of attention in that way.
“You know, it's usually showrunner. And as incredible as David [E Kelley, the showrunner] and JJ [Abrams, executive producer] are, you know, really, Anne and Greg are just so incredible, too. I loved working with them.”
The show has been met with great reviews, with an 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
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Variety’s Aramide Tinubu heaped praise on the show, saying it was: "Entirely watchable, Presumed Innocent is one of the best legal thrillers to arrive on television in years."
Topics: Jake Gyllenhaal, Film and TV
Michael Slavin