I was excited to be fighting Conor McGregor… then he hit me & I thought ‘what the f*** have I done’ says Jake Gyllenhaal
FEW movie stars put their bodies on the line like Jake Gyllenhaal does.
He lost a sixth of his weight for 2014 thriller Nightcrawler and spent five months training as a boxer for Southpaw in 2015.
But the Bafta-winning US star demonstrated how truly brave he was when remaking the 1989 Patrick Swayze cult hit Road House — by taking a real punch from cage fighter Conor McGregor.
In scenes that took a toll on the 43-year-old’s body, he also needed dozens of stitches after slicing his hand open on set.
Road House, which streams on Amazon Prime Video today, has been praised by critics for its incredibly realistic, bone-crunching fight scenes.
But they weren’t brought to life without lots of sweat and pain.
Two-time UFC champion Conor had never acted before and Jake had to repeatedly remind the 35-year-old Irish hardman that his blows were not supposed to land.
Mixed martial arts star Conor, who once clobbered a pubgoer in a row over a shot of whiskey, isn’t known for pulling his punches in real life.
But luckily, Jake didn’t come to any serious harm during the gritty brawls.
After all, a broken nose wouldn’t have looked good on a Hollywood heartthrob whose previous girlfriends include Taylor Swift, Reese Witherspoon and Kirsten Dunst.
Jake was so determined to boast a ripped body that could rival fighting legend Conor’s for his Road House role, he lifted weights, ran several miles a day and focused on vertical climbs to get in shape.
‘Labour of love’
But he quickly realised taking on the UFC hero could get messy.
Fight fan Jake reveals that after the initial buzz of excitement from learning Conor had been cast in the revamped flick, he quickly realised how risky it might be to land on the receiving end of one of his left hooks.
The feeling was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the most incredible feeling’. And then it was like, I wanted to run as far as I possibly could.
Jake on Conor fight
Jake smiles as he recalls: “When he said he was going to do it, I remember getting the call.
“And I remember being so excited — and then sort of immediately terrified. You know that feeling when you buy the house you always wanted and you’re like, ‘What the f*** did I just do?’. That’s the feeling.
“The feeling was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the most incredible feeling’.
“And then it was like, I wanted to run as far as I possibly could.”
In Road House, Brokeback Mountain star Jake plays former cage fighter Dalton — Patrick Swayze’s character in the original film.
The plot sees him hired as a bouncer at the roughest bar in Florida. In fact, it is so rowdy that a fence is needed to stop guests attacking the house band.
Conor is the baddie Knox, stirring up trouble and pushing “nice guy” Dalton so far that they get into an almighty rumble.
But making the bust-up look real wasn’t easy. Jake admits: “That’s where the fear comes in. The first shot we ever did was me, like, literally, the headbutt scene.
“That was the first time I ever do anything with Conor. I remember people craning their necks when he came on set.”
While the pair were rehearsing, the real life cage fighter did land a punch on Jake.
The actor told Virgin Radio: “When we were watching playback on the screen, he was trying to coach me, and he was like, ‘Oh, take your right hand and just throw it a bit more like . . . ’ and then he hit me.”
Conor, whose nickname is The Notorious, immediately apologised.
But things got even worse for Jake when the stars filmed a scene involving a truck smashing through the window of the boozer, sending shards of glass flying.
I’m an enormous fan of Patrick Swayze, have been since I was a kid. And then I had the honour to work with him when we did this movie, Donnie Darko.
Jake on the late actor Patrick Swayze
The Hollywood star said: “We’re fighting on the floor, fighting around tables, we’re fighting around glass. I get up, I’m supposed to have been a little bit out of it. I put my hand on the bar, f*****g straight glass.” The accident resulted in a skin infection which needed medical treatment.
Road House was a real labour of love for Californian Jake, whose big break came in the much-loved 2001 high school drama Donnie Darko, which also starred Patrick Swayze.
The men remained close friends and Jake is a massive fan of all the late actor’s movies.
He explains: “I’m an enormous fan of Patrick Swayze, have been since I was a kid. And then I had the honour to work with him when we did this movie, Donnie Darko.
“And he was so good to me. From then on, throughout the years, he and his wife Lisa (were) always so supportive and loving of me.”
Superstardom beckoned
Jake made his acting debut aged 11 in 1991 hit City Slickers alongside Billy Crystal. He went on to appear — sometimes with sister Maggie, 46 — in films directed by his dad Stephen, 74.
But Donnie Darko was the movie that thrust him into the spotlight.
In 2003, he came close to playing Batman in Christopher Nolan’s reboot of the caped crusader movies. The role went to Christian Bale.
Around the same time, he almost played Spider-Man in the second instalment of the superhero saga amid fears Tobey Maguire might not be fit enough to make the 2004 sequel.
If he HAD taken over as the web-slinging superhero, Jake would have turned his off-screen romance into an on-screen one because he was dating Kirsten Dunst, 41, at the time. The actress played Peter Parker’s love interest Mary Jane Watson.
She and Jake split up in 2004 after two years together because Kirsten claimed “he’s a stay-at-home boy and I’m an out-on-the-town girl”.
Superstardom was beckoning for Jake, and it was the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain, in which he played a gay cowboy alongside Heath Ledger, that made him a global star.
He clinched the best supporting actor Bafta for that part in 2006, seeing off competition for the golden statuette from the likes of George Clooney and Matt Dillon.
The following year, he fell for Reese Witherspoon while they made the political drama Rendition together, with rumours suggesting he wanted to get hitched to the 47-year-old actress.
But their romance ended after just a couple of years and, in October 2010, he was linked to singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, 34.
They only stayed together for three months, although Taylor’s fans believe it was long enough for her to pen the track All Too Well about their breakup.
I would love to have a family and, if it’s anything like the family my sister’s raised, I would be proud.
Jake on family plans
Jake’s dedication to his work may have made a relationship challenging. For the critically acclaimed Nightcrawler, he slimmed down to 140lbs, partly by running 12 miles every day.
His intensity while shooting the movie about a TV cameraman led him to smash a mirror to demonstrate his character’s anger.
And that resulted in more than 40 stitches to his cut hand.
Just a year later, he added 28lbs of muscle to play boxer Billy Hope in Southpaw, totally altering his look, to the amazement of fans. The slightly-built actor had suddenly transformed himself into a ripped muscle man.
Family dreams
Jake is yet to get married or have children, but he has been dating French model Jeanne Cadieu, 28, for over five years and has revealed he dreams of having kids in the future. Last year, he said: “I would love to have a family and, if it’s anything like the family my sister’s raised, I would be proud.”
His sibling Maggie, best known for the 2002 movie Secretary, has two daughters doted on by Jake.
He is also a godparent to Heath Ledger’s 18-year-old daughter Matilda and has taken a close interest in her life since her dad’s tragic death in January 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Jake was joined by Jeanne for the London premiere of Road House last week before they headed out to eat in Mayfair.
But the film’s director Doug Liman has expressed fury that fans won’t get to see Road House in cinemas as it is going straight to streaming. He said: “Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas.
Then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.”
Jake, though, insists the £66million budget action flick was always intended to be viewed on TV screens.
The actor said: “I just want as many people to see it as possible.”
And with everything he’s gone through making Road House, that is understandable.