Prisoners star indicates he is open to offers in city where he last trod the boards in 2002, singling out Old Vic for praise
London's artistic directors might want to give Jake Gyllenhaal's agent a call after the Hollywood star announced that he "definitely" wants to star onstage in the capital.
Long before Oscar nominations and Bafta wins, Gyllenhaal won his first major award on the London stage. In 2002, he picked up the outstanding newcomer prize at the Evening Standard theatre awards for a stellar West End turn in Kenny Lonergan's This Is Our Youth.
More than a decade on, it seems the 32-year old wants a crack at the best actor prize. Asked about a return to the West End in a radio interview with Magic FM, the Brokeback Mountain and Donnie Darko star replied: "Definitely. I love it here and I loved working here on the stage."
Gyllenhaal proceeded to drop a massive hint to one prospective employer, heaping praise on Kevin Spacey's star-led programming at the Old Vic.
"The Old Vic is such an incredible institution and an amazing theatre space," he continued. "I would love to work there. And if that temptation calls, I will answer in one way or another."
This Is Our Youth has proved a star-maker of a play, and Gyllenhaal's fellow actors in that production included Star Wars' Hayden Christensen and Anna Paquin, now best known for True Blood. Later casts included Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Alison Lohman, while Juno actor Michael Cera led a Sydney Opera House production last year.
Gyllenhaal – whom Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington judged "naturally comic and engagingly defenceless" in the Garrick theatre production – made his New York theatre debut last year, leading the US premiere of Nick Payne's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, which originally ran at the Bush theatre in London.
His latest film, the crime thriller Prisoners, in which he stars alongside Hugh Jackman, is currently top of the US box office and gets its UK release on 27 September.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/sep/25/jake-gyllenhaal-london-theatre-prisoners
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