- Actor Jake Gyllenhaal’s alleged erratic behavior on a movie set has been clarified by director Thomas Bidegain, who revealed creative differences were the main issue, rather than unprofessionalism.
- The incidents involving Gyllenhaal, such as demanding a specific car color and jumping into the ocean in his underwear, were widely discussed and mocked on social media.
- Bidegain ultimately made the movie with French actors who aligned better with his vision after Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby dropped out during pre-production.
Additional Coverage:
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal faced scrutiny this week following reports of alleged erratic behavior on a movie set. However, the film’s director, Thomas Bidegain, has now clarified the situation. In an interview with the French magazine Technikart, Bidegain discussed his movie “Suddenly,” which had Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby attached at one point before they reportedly dropped out during pre-production.
The interview described several frenzied episodes involving Gyllenhaal, such as demanding a specific color of car, rehearsing with a ridiculous accent, and jumping into the freezing ocean in his underwear. These incidents were widely discussed on social media and mocked. While Bidegain did not comment on the truthfulness of these stories, he did tell Variety that his issues with Gyllenhaal and Kirby stemmed from creative differences rather than unprofessional behavior.
Bidegain explained that the film was still in the early stages and had not started shooting or even entered pre-production. This occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the creative team only having spoken over Zoom. Bidegain proposed the idea of meeting in Iceland for a week to work on the project.
During this trip, it became clear that their visions did not align when breaking down the script together. Kirby and Gyllenhaal had different opinions on the meaning and themes of the story. Bidegain left the trip after realizing it would not be a fruitful partnership, highlighting the challenges of working with an actor-producer like Gyllenhaal, whom he had never worked with before. Bidegain ultimately made the movie with French actors who better aligned with his vision.
Bidegain claimed that Kirby later reached out to purchase the script, but he declined the offer. Instead, he made the movie as he desired. Despite the earlier claims made in the original article, Bidegain responded in a more diplomatic manner, emphasizing his intention to create the movie in his own way. The film was released last year.
Overall, it appears that the issues between Gyllenhaal and Bidegain are now water under the bridge, and there may be a lesson to be learned from this situation, although it remains unclear what that lesson might be.