Despite his status as an A-list actor and one of the biggest talents in the film industry, Jake Gyllenhaal has a bit of a checkered past when it comes to blockbusters. Largely making a name for himself in critically-acclaimed films and indie darlings, the actor has only dabbled briefly in the world of tentpole films.
And speaking to Yahoo, the actor discusses his most famous early attempts, which never panned out, for one reason or another.
Considering Gyllenhaal is currently promoting “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” it makes sense that his past as an almost-Spidey comes to light once again. For those that don’t remember, the actor was rumored to be waiting in the wings as a possible replacement for Tobey Maguire before filming of Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2.” Maguire had recently injured his back filming “Seabiscuit” and it was unclear whether he could properly film the superhero sequel.
Gyllenhaal explained the history behind that story.
“There are so many roles in my career where I was up against another actor, or something happened that possibly could’ve happened but didn’t happen but maybe it would have…” said Gyllenhaal. “Eventually my belief is when an actor’s played a character, particularly in a movie, the character’s theirs, and that’s that.”
He continued, “But yeah [Maguire] hurt himself and there was talk. And there was a slew of actors [possibly up for the part], and I was one of them.”
Flirting with Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’ wasn’t the only time that the actor toyed around with franchise filmmaking. Later in his career, he made the leap into full-on action blockbuster with the video game adaptation “Prince of Persia.” That film is largely looked at as a failure on all levels, as a critical and box office failure. But even that experience taught Gyllenhaal a lesson, and probably explains why he’s really stayed out of blockbusters until ‘Far From Home.’
“I think I learned a lot from that movie in that I spend a lot of time trying to be very thoughtful about the roles that I pick and why I’m picking them,” he said. “And you’re bound to slip up and be like, ‘That wasn’t right for me,’ or ‘That didn’t fit perfectly.’ There have been a number of roles like that. And then a number of roles that do.”
Well, even though audiences haven’t had the chance to see his work in the latest ‘Spider-Man’ film, trust us, he’s great. And unlike “Prince of Persia,” there’s no doubt that ‘Far From Home’ is not only going to be a critical darling but also a box office powerhouse. And once you see the film, you’ll realize that a lot of that success is thanks to the work Gyllenhaal does.
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” arrives in theaters on July 2.