Jake Gyllenhaal Says "Prince of Persia" Not All Fun and Games

As a dedicated performer, Jake Gyllenhaal researches his movie roles carefully before stepping in front of the camera. For "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," Gyllenhaal's latest film, the actor had to prepare in a whole new way, though. "I've never done research by playing video games before," Gyllenhaal said, laughing. "Sometimes, I read books and I've hung out with Marines (for 'Jarhead'), but playing video games is great fun."

Taking "Prince of Persia" from video game to big screen blockbuster

Talking with Associated Content and other members of the press at WonderCon 2010 in San Francisco, Gyllenhaal said it was great fun making "Prince of Persia." "It's great fun making an action movie, particularly something so big where you are in and out every day doing great acting with a great director (Mike Newell)---and then jumping around all over buildings. It's great fun," he said.

Although not the first video game to inspire a movie, Ubisoft's popular "Prince of Persia" series has been quite suitable for adaptation. Gyllenhaal plays the title character, which been given the name Dastan for the movie. In the film, Dastan becomes the protector of mystical dagger that contains very powerful sand. The one who wields the dagger gains the power to control time to their advantage.

Gyllenhaal quickly pointed out, however, that both director Mike Newell and producer Jerry Bruckheimer said that anything Prince Dastan does in the movie has to be based in some kind of reality. "In fact, there were times on the set that we would do a stunt that would mimic something from the game. Jerry would say 'Wait a second. Why did he do that?' Everything had to be based emotionally in the storyline, so we had to come up with a reason why he flipped backwards over a horse," Gyllenhaal said.

Playing the Prince of Persia was a very physical role

Gyllenhaal's previous roles include a coal miner's son in "October Sky" and one of the lead roles in the groundbreaking "Brokeback Mountain." As for Prince Dastan, Gyllenhaal called it a very physical role. "I've always found myself inhabiting a role, starting from the physical level, whether you are changing the shape of your body-gaining weight, losing weight," he said.

"For this role, it was very physical which I loved. You do all the training cardiovascularly to get ready for it, and then you listen to the experts and you do it. Every day, it was horseback riding, hardcore training, gymnastics, sword fighting," he said.

Gyllenhaal stars opposite Ben Kingsley in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"

When asked about working with the legendary actor Ben Kingsley in "Prince of Persia," Gyllenhaal said it certainly was different than playing with a video game. "It was a great honor---he's Sir Ben. Working with someone you can play with who is so experienced and so wise is great."

That's not to say that Gyllenhaal and Kingsley didn't go toe-to-toe, so to speak. "I also sword fight with Ben Kingsley, too. We have a couple of sword fights together. He's a fierce competitor," Gyllenhaal said.

"The Prince of Persia," rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, opens nationwide on Friday, May 28.

Resources:

http://prince-of-persia.us.ubi.com/about.php