Jake Gyllenhaal is not playing! In the trailer for his new movie, Southpaw, which dropped over the weekend, it’s clear to see that the actor whipped himself into serious shape to play a professional boxer. The newer, more ripped character is a far cry from Gyllenhaal’s previous role where he played an emaciated-looking reporter in Nightcrawler. Billy Hope, Gyllenhaal’s new character, hits rock bottom after losing his wife. The movie was written by Kurt Sutter (of Sons of Anarchy fame) and Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) is in the director’s chair.
Fuqua was very impressed with how Gyllenhaal got in fighting shape for the role. In an interview with Deadline, he outlined what the actor did to get ready. “I had him training twice a day in the boxing ring; he did two-a-days, seven days a week,” he said.
“I had him train at Floyd Mayweather’s gym in Vegas and we watched Floyd’s fights, and the Manny Pacquiao fight. He trained in New York at Church Gym with real fighters. We literally turned him into a beast.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.”
