Jake Gyllenhaal is arguably one of the bravest actors of his generation, venturing into different genres and attempting risky projects throughout his career. As a child actor, he gained prominence in the role of Homer Hickam in 1999’s October Sky. The young actor would go on to star in one of the most influential films of the 2000s Donnie Darko.
The complex psychological thriller was directed by Richard Kelly with Gyllenhaal playing the titular role. Most people were blown away by the film’s ambition and were left thinking about the complicated narrative and the ambiguous nature of its ending. Gyllenhaal considers this the biggest achievement of the film which has led to its resonance to this day.
Jake Gyllenhaal is a Big Advocate for The Confusingly Ambiguous Donnie Darko Ending
From his early days as an actor, Jake Gyllenhaal has always participated in bold and risky projects that also showed his range as an actor. Playing the former NASA engineer Homer Hickam in a mesmerizing biopic October Sky was already an achievement in 1999. 2001’s Donnie Darko would be one of Gyllenhaal’s narratively ballsy projects that left people shocked.
The sci-fi psychological thriller combined elements of time travel and an unusually disturbing approach to the coming-of-age story of a young kid. Gyllenhaal played the titular role, a psychologically troubled boy who sees visions of a figure wearing a mysterious rabbit costume telling him that the world is ending soon.
Richard Kelly’s film delves into a mix of adventures and questionable actions that Donnie does as the film progresses and twists it by introducing the rabbit-faced figure, indicating that the whole film may be a dream of some sort. As the film comes to its ending, it rewinds everything and comes back to the beginning while also hinting that everything that happened resulted in the eventual death of Donnie at the end.
The film’s plot, as explained above, is very complex and the ending leaves lots of room for people to think and ponder about. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Gyllenhaal stated that this ambiguous aspect of the film is its greatest strength because it shook people and left a big impact on them. According to him, it is a film about the power of the unconscious and the power of growing up. Gyllenhaal said,
I think it’s a movie about the power of the unconscious and the power of growing up and what that means. This was an expression of adolescence that felt far from typical but felt so much more true to me. The end of that movie will bring up and has brought up so many questions. To me, that’s a successful story. And, I just like that it’s a movie that messes with you a bit.
While it was not successful at the box office, the film has developed a strong cult following. It has since been deemed one of the best sci-fi films of all time. A director’s cut of the film was released in 2004 and fans have been divisive about the definite version of the film between the two. Nevertheless, the film continues to be celebrated by cinephiles and critics to this day.
Jake Gyllenhaal Can’t Wait To Return as Dalton in Road House 2
Jake Gyllenhaal starred in the modern reimagining of Patrick Swayze’s 1989 action classic Road House. Despite it receiving mixed reviews, the film went on to create historic viewership records for the streamer. As revealed by Amazon (via The Hollywood Reporter), the film amassed 50 million views in its first two weekends and has now earned nearly 80 million worldwide viewers to date.
As THR reported, Amazon is now developing a sequel to the film and Gyllenhaal couldn’t be more happier about the news. The actor revealed that he loved the character he played and the world he got to create with Road House. He can’t wait to play Dalton again in a new adventure in the sequel. The actor said,
I am so ready like I love this character, I love this world, I love the thing that we’ve created, and I can’t wait to bring more.
In addition to Gyllenhaal, the Doug Liman-directed film also starred Daniela Melchior, Conor McGregor J. D. Pardo, Arturo Castro, and Billy Magnussen. Gyllenhaal’s next project will be the upcoming Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent, an adaptation of the 1987 novel of the same name by Scott Turow. The show will premiere on Apple TV+ on June 12, 2024.
Fans can watch/rent Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko on Apple TV+.
