With a gaunt, skinny Jake Gyllenhaal currently in cinemas playing a sociopathic videographer in crime thriller Nightcrawler. A picture of his unbelievable transformation from his forthcoming boxing movie, Southpaw has hit the web.
Gyllenhaal plays Junior Middleweight Champion Billy “The Great” Hope, a lefty champ who loses everything in a personal tragedy and is forced to fight his way to redemption.
The physical transformation came about due to six hours a day working out for an entire six months, some of which took place at the Las Vegas gym of world champion Floyd Mayweather.
Jake piled on 15lb of muscle, prompting his director Antoine Fuqua to describe him as looking like a “beast”.
Fuqua told Deadline Hollywood, “We literally turned him into a beast. Jake, my god, he’s a very electric, powerful fighter in this movie. He’s so committed and gives his heart. The word is sacrifice.”
Speaking to Variety, he said, “Two people have done this in their lives – Robert De Niro in Raging Bull and Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. Those kinds of guys are rare.” “I asked this guy from day one, ‘I need you in the gym every day. I need you to train every day.’ And I said, ‘The word is sacrifice.’
“Literally. I think he broke up with his girlfriend because he was just in the gym every day,” Fuqua said.
“He was training like a fighter. I had him sparring, really getting hit. I put him in situations where I wanted to see what he was made of. No one but fighters understand the sacrifice it takes to be a fighter.”
Southpaw is set for a release in 2015
Andrew McCarroll
Andrew McCarroll never quite built on the dizzying career heights that he hit at 6 years old, when as a member of the “Ghostbusters” he would charge his neighbours to remove any unwanted spectres. Now retired from slaying spooks, he spends his time obsessing over superheroes (especially Batman) and devouring shows like Dexter, Game of Thrones and Archer in a manner that would make Galactus proud. You can follow his rants on twitter @andymc1983
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