MovieChat Forums > Jake Gyllenhaal Discussion > He needs to get darker roles

He needs to get darker roles

posted 9 years ago by edt89
9 replies | jump to latest

It worked for Heath Ledger, and it will work for him. Hell, maybe he should stage an OD.

Think about it, when Gyllenhaal got famous off Donnie Darko, he had the mysterious, dramatic, young actor dealing with mature themes thing on lock down. Then Heath Ledger comes along and ODs and takes the crown for screw ups.

I'm kidding but WTF happened with Gyllenhaal? I thought he was going the right, weird direction with Nightcrawler but then he's done nothing of note since. McConaughey did True Detective, Wolf of Wall Street, and Dallas Buyers Club all within like one or two years of one another.. Jake needs to become a director's gay muse and either step it up dramatically (like Leo/Scorsese) or get real weird, real fast (like Depp/Tim Burton)...but not like Bradley Cooper and the guy who directed Silver Lingings Playbook. Way too much sappy BS and way too much Jennifer Lawrence. Between dead Heath Ledger and his future gay director partner, he won't have any more room to have Jennifer Lawrence forced down his throat as well.

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[–] Bulldozer123 9 years ago

he has been in a lot of dark roles since donnie darko besides from nightcrawler. jarhead, zodiac, end of watch, prisoners, enemey etc.
and nocturnal animals which is coming out later this year seems like it might be another dark role for him.

[–] everymanaking6488 9 years ago

His career has been doing great. Nightcrawler got him the best reviews of his career. Everest was a hit film (overseas). Southpaw got some strong reviews but wasn't the HIT it might have been expected or strong enough to get him awards consideration. Dude has a lot of Oscar baity films to be released over the next few years.

I'd love to see him work with Tarantino or Nolan next though

[–] DetectiveDavidLoki 9 years ago

And the Coens

[–] edt89 9 years ago

Nolan or the Coens would work wonders with Jake.

I forgot about his role in Zodiac, which was fantastic but I had the same reaction afterwards....he chooses these very dark roles but basically teeters right on the edge. Also, "hmm that Mark Ruffalo is going places". I'm talking about wanting to see him in a clearly career defining *beep* crazy role like Ledger's Joker (obvious with my Ledger OD reference) or Tom Hardy's role in Bronson.

[–] BethH24 8 years ago

His role in the good girl was dark too.

[–] everymanaking6488 8 years ago

let's get it going

[–] marlieixo 8 years ago

Maybe seeing a close friend die (Heath) right after doing an extremely dark role is the exact reason he's chosen to stay out of them on a larger scale. That could cause anyone to think a few times before they dive too deep into something repeatedly.