Road House' Jake Gyllenhaal Has One Thing to Thank Christopher Nolan for

Summary

• Jake Gyllenhaal is one of Hollywood's most versatile actors.
• Despite starring in many films in the 2000s, the actor didn't get the big roles he auditioned for.
• One little thing that Christopher Nolan did helped Gyllenhaal keep faith in himself.

There are actors who are forever stuck with a certain type of role. For example, Jason Statham always portrays some tough guy, Jennifer Coolidge often plays some dumb but sexy mom characters, and Chris Hemsworth is known for his portrayal of attractive hunks. But Jake Gyllenhaal is definitely not one of those actors.

Since beginning his acting career in the 1990s, Jake Gyllenhaal has starred in many films and played a variety of characters – from the black comedy spoof Bubble Boy to the iconic LGTBQ film Brokeback Mountain to Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home. Currently, Gyllenhaal stars in Amazon Prime Video's Road House. But the actor might not have achieved this success had Christopher Nolan not done this one thing for him in the early 2000s.

The Rough New Millenium

In the early 2000s, Jake Gyllenhaal had many roles, but they all had nothing on the one he auditioned for but didn't get. At the turn of the millennium, the actor auditioned for the role of Christian in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, but didn't get it. A few years later, Gyllenhaal also auditioned for the title role in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, but didn't get it either. The actor could have been disappointed in himself and his career, but thanks to the filmmaker, that didn't happen.

'To [Nolan's] credit and to Baz's credit, both of those directors called me personally to tell me [I didn't get the role],' Jake Gyllenhaal said of the Batman Begins and Moulin Rouge directors.

Positive Affirmation

According to the actor, he is especially grateful to the filmmakers for the commentary they provided along with the rejection instead of awkwardly bidding him adieu. Both Nolan and Luhrmann explained why they chose the other actor for their respective films, letting Jake know that it wasn't his fault, but rather that they saw something in his competition that was a better fit for the role. And in the end, it allowed the actor to maintain a healthy outlook on his career.

'At that time, I remember getting a call from Christopher Nolan and just being like, 'I just got a call personally from Christopher Nolan. That's pretty cool. I've gotten pretty far,'' Gyllenhaal shared. 'And I am like, 'Alright! So, now I'll just keep going. I should keep going.''

And he did, and this positive outlook has led the actor to many interesting roles, including Nightcrawler, Everest, and Guy Ritchie's The Covenant. Hopefully we'll see Jake Gyllenhaal in many more movies in the future.

Source: YouTube.