Being An Artist
JAKE GYLLENHAAL admits he’s terrified of his upcoming onscreen gay kiss with HEATH LEDGER, because he has no idea how to fake homosexual intimacy.
The hunky star is teaming up with Ledger in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN but is struggling to cope with the demands of the storyline - and even his girlfriend KIRSTEN DUNST has failed to lift his spirits as the steamy scenes approach.
He says, “Kirsten looked at the script and said, ‘Well, you aren’t gay and neither is Heath, so there’s a lot of acting required.’
“I just can’t come to terms with it. I know what we have to do and it’s very intimate. I’m blanking it out until we have to do the filming. I’ve spoken to Heath and he sounds terrified.” (source)
You know, it isn’t often that I actually buy a DVD movie anymore. I used to buy them more, but with the cable, Replay TV, Video On Demand, and a video recorder, there’s really no need for me to buy a movie any longer. However, on occasion, I will make an exception. One such exception was that of Brokeback Mountain. I understood the feelings in the movie precisely because much of it has been my life.
In the love scenes, I sensed how awkward the two actors were. I have little patience for it. This is basically my opinion. If two straight male actors cannot perform a convincing gay love scene to me, they have no business being actors. They are third rate. This happened in Brokeback Mountain. I could sense they were having a problem with it. It showed. And I don’t really understand that because if I were called upon to show love to a woman, I could passionately make love to her, even though my heart (or anything else) would not be into it. And I’m not even an actor. I honestly don’t see the big deal.
And I’m not alone. Openly gay actor Sir Ian McKellen feels the same say.
The openly homosexual ‘Lord Of The Rings’ actor slammed 25-year-old Gyllenhaal for failing to consider how his comments would offend the homosexual community.
He said: “I got very upset when one of the actors said it was the most terrifying job he’d ever had because it involved him kissing another man.
“Imagine how rude that is. Suppose I’d said the most appalling thing I ever to do was kiss Helen Mirren!”
Very true. It is offensive and I’m a bit surprised at Jake Gyllenhaal. I have read that he stated that his parents have many gay friends and he was raised in such an environment and said that he feels totally at home around gay people. Apparently, he draws the homophobic line when it comes to making love.
How does this effect me at this point in time? Well, the DVD of Brokeback Mountain are about to come out. I was going to buy the DVD and show my support for a creation that shows our lives. But I’ve changed my mind. I’m disappointed in actors (Jake stated that Heath was equally “terrified” of the love scenes they were going to make together). If he had said that to me, I would have said, “OH PLEASE! If you want to be an artist, there are times that you have to step out of the small shell you know as ‘yourself’, and BE your new self - the character you are playing.”
I would have thought that Jake and Heath would have learned that in elementary acting school. Because that is elementary. The same can be said for any artist who excels in their art. Do you really think that Maria Callas was acting when she performed Tosca? No. She simply was Floria Tosca.
I still remember Theresa Stratas saying, “I sometimes look into a mirror and ask, ‘Who am I?’ That’s a little scary when I feel that I am losing myself to the character I am becoming.” That is art. That is the risk you run at being there and giving everything you have to that moment that the cameras are on you in that love scene. If you become the love scene, there is nothing to hide from. There wouldn’t even be awkwardness (read, homophobia), Jake, because your character of Jack Twist would have been gay, and so would you - if you were really in character.
What has happened to art? Is it going extinct?
At any rate, I no longer have enough respect for the actors to buy Brokeback Mountain. I’ll see it again when it comes out on cable. As McKellen stated, the comments are offensive. I see no need to further support them.
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I guess I can see and agree with much of what you say Dave. I think that much of the conflict was with Heath's character. He was more content to play straight his whole life than to accept his true self (and yes, I do believe his true self was gay). I grew up in Idaho. I know very well what you are talking about. I have gay friends there who are still married to their wives and playing the happy straight husband. Will they talk to me? No. I'm too much of a threat to them. I have chosen to live my life openly and honestly. To them, that makes me a queer. They don't talk to queers. Beat them up, yes. Talk to them, no.
I never had that feeling of conflict with Jake's character (Jake Twist). He was just plain gay and had no problem with it. His problem was how to hide it but, internally, he wasn't in conflict. That was what I saw on the screen that bothered me.
Actually, looking back on it and thinking a bit more about it, Heath's reaction was probably quite realistic to what would have happened. Jake's character wanted it to happen though. The emotion should have been excitement and elation over this - not awkwardness.
Every one (actors) have their own personal views. You can't let your own insecurities distract you from how you play the part.
On a positive note... there was one shining moment in the entire movie that showed great talent. When Heath went into Jack's room, and saw the jacket, with the shirt inside the jacket, the look on his face was precise and right on the mark. He was confronted at that moment with an avalanche of regret for what could have been, but was now gone. All that was left was the jacket and the shirt. Heath showed the depth of all of that on his face. He had me crying at that point. I felt it! I got it!
This is a great film. And I don't care if it was 'difficult' for Jake Gyllenhaal, he did a good job in it. What many of you seem to forget is that these were 'cowboys', and these guys do not broadcast their emotions. I have known several gay men very much in this mold. It's perfectly natural and perfectly in character for them to seem a little 'uncomfortable', the movie is far deeper than a gay romp. They were uncomfortable for their whole lives, denying the truth. This is the real world for many. This was a wonderful film, and those who criticise based on Gyllenhaal's comment remind me A LOT of those bigots who said they would never listen to Elton John again because they found out he was gay. Your loss. It's possible that gay actors would NOT have worked as well, because they might have been too comfortable.
WHAT?! Now I can say that it was a bad movie without being attacked by other gays?!
You know what else was fake? The tears those idiots were shedding while watching that movie!
Show me one gay movie without some fucked up relationship. But then again, a movie like the love I have with my partner is not real enough for most gay people.
Maybe when gay men start behaving like normal human beings we'll get our rights.
Dan
I get so tired of "straight" actors telling us how difficult it is for them to perform a gay love scene. I mean, really, if Rock Hudson could convince the world that he was straight for all those years and manage to sell all those love scenes on screen with Doris Day - well - Heath and Jake should be able to handle a kiss.
I just wonder how much of this "anxst" is really these boys trying to make sure that no one "mistakes" them for gay. To me, that reason would be even more offensive.
But, I guess, as I've always said: Gays make much better actors. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we spend much of our life "acting" to suit society. I disagree that straight actors who can't pull off a gay love scene are third rate - I don't think they're actors at all.
Well... I think I saw where it was going to retail for $38. That seemed kinda pricey to me. That could be "suggested retail" and, admittedly, I haven't bought a DVD of a "newly released" movie in quite sometime, but ....
That seemed more in line with "collector's edition" type pricing.
(Not sure I want to see the extras on that film if they're taking about how hard it is to 'act' gay.)
Well... I think you are right about Jake not being the greatest actor in the world. I guess I am unusual. I am gay, but if it was my job and I approached it with passion and dedication, I would have no problem making a passionate love scene with a female. And I'll tell you this... you would never know or suspect that I was gay.
Maybe it's my musical training. In the kind of master classes I was part of, you NEVER showed up unprepared. You took your fears and issues, and you dealt with them. Those running the class were the kind of people that everyone knows (the big names). I got to know them as just people - gifted people, but I'll tell you this; there was always a line between being friendly and being professional. If you are prepared for the part, you can deal with anything that will happen.
I remember Colin Farrell was about to make a love scene with another male actor. The actual scene called for a simple kiss - to suggest to the audience that they were lovers. He did the kiss, then he took his male counterpart, and started passionately making love to him, as though there was no tomorrow. The director stopped them. The reason; he was uncomfortable with where the scene was going. Colin went into a rage, stormed off the set naked and shouted, "Fucking amateur hour....". He later chastised the director by asking him to keep his homophobic insecurities to himself where they belonged. But then again, perhaps Colin was ok with the part perhaps because he has a gay brother. I don't know. I know that he felt something else in the scene, and he followed it. He was in a place of passion, and continued on the path of that passion.
I think they could have done better with Brokeback Mountain. The story is good, but the casting was way off.
And DJ, you can still have that crush on Jake. Hell, why not? ;-)
Oh geez, there goes my juvenile crush on Jake!
I don't think it's so much that Gyllenhaal isn't gay (he isn't?!?!) is that there just wasn't any chemistry between the two actors. Personally I believe Jake is as queer as the rest of us; it's just that he's not the best actor in the world...
Many of my straight friends including my twin brother complained that they weren't convinced by the performances and that it ruined the movie for them. They wanted to believe that there was passion between the characters.
I think that straight folks who are well acquainted with gay couples -- as my friends and family have been with me and my partners over the years -- expected to see the same type of natural attraction and bonding on screen.
I haven't seen the movie yet. My brother told me that I wouldn't like it and he's usually right when it comes to that kind of thing.