14 DAY TRIAL // “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton, arrives in theaters in many territories today. Despite the hype surrounding this project and the hopes of millions of gamers pinned on it, Jake continues to maintain his cool and still not take himself too seriously, as a recent interview he did with The Sun proves.
The actor, who got in pretty impressive shape to play the Prince, says that it’s always been one of his dreams to be a hero: still, not just any hero will do, for he has to be someone who seems truly unbreakable, while also retaining his human side as well. Like Dastan does in the film, Gyllenhaal says. This served as motivation to get in shape and to train in order to be able to perform some of the stunts on his own.
“The best biggest stunts were done by me, the most dangerous ones as well. I’ve always really wanted to play a prince – some people might say I am in a lot of ways a princess,” Jake Gyllenhaal says in his typical bantering manner. “I’ve always loved movies in which the hero has the capability to do almost anything, but still be a human being, and not a superman. I’d never ridden a horse in my life, so I was sent away with the others on a kind of horse-riding boot camp before we started the film. It was brilliant, and now horseback-riding is one of my hobbies,” the actor adds in a more serious tone.
“One of the stunts in the film that I do myself is when I’m swept onto a horse as it’s coming towards me, and I was really proud of that,” Gyllehaal explains. The incredible jumps from rooftop to rooftop were performed by acrobats, but here too he got involved. “I did a lot of the landings, which are the hardest part. Hard on your knees, and other parts of your body,” Jake adds. To make shooting these scenes much easier on the actor – and less dangerous as well – he trained for several months in freerunning (Parkour).
In the same interview, Jake also talks having to wear hair extensions and a fake British accent for the entire duration of the shoot, as well as the challenges of working in Morocco. The desert sand will be forever a part of his DNA because of it, Gyllenhaal further jokes. For the full interview, please see here.