Jake Gyllenhaal knows he has quite a legacy to live up to with his role in the remake of the Patrick Swayze classic “Road House.”
The actor, who plays an ex-UFC fighter named Dalton working as a bouncer (similar to Swayze’s bouncer character in the original), revealed to Fox News Digital the special way he and the movie honor the late icon.
“I mean, I tried the best I can. I obviously couldn’t do the same amazing things he does in the original movie, but I tried to carry him with me,” Gyllenhaal said. “So, my character has a lot of different tattoos. And there are a number of different tattoos I wore that were sort of in honor of him, just to remind myself every day.
“They’re not real tattoos. So, we put them on every day. And every time we put them on, it kind of just remind[ed] me of him, of his kindness, [and] my gratitude that I wouldn’t be able to do the film without him having done the original.
Jake Gyllenhaal told Fox News Digital the tattoos featured on his character in the new “Road House” remake are meant to “honor” Patrick Swayze, who starred in the original. (Laura Radford © Amazon Content Services LLC)
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“[They were a] reminder to bring the energy from his original performance into this one, because there’s something so special about that first one.”
The “Road House” remake initially faced some backlash from fans, but Gyllenhaal wasn’t worried by it.
“The original movie’s always going to be there, you know what I mean?” he said with a laugh. “And, if anything, I think we bring more attention to a movie that, even in its original release, didn’t get any attention, really. It notoriously didn’t do well, [but] found an audience over time. I mean, to me, you can’t beat the original. Like, that’s for sure. There is no fight there, you know what I mean?”
His co-star, Daniela Melchior, agreed, adding, “And there are so many versions of Shakespeare. Why can’t we do our versions of things?”
Gyllenhaal said “you can’t beat the original” movie with Swayze, but he thinks “we’ve also done something that’s wholly original.” (Alamy/Amazon)
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Gyllenhaal replied, “It may not be Shakespeare, but it means a lot to a lot of people. And I think we kept that in mind when we were making it.
“But I think we’ve also done something that’s wholly original, and that’s thanks to [director] Doug Liman, who sort of put his own stamp on the movie.”
WATCH: JAKE GYLLENHAAL HONORED PATRICK SWAYZE WITH TATTOOS IN ‘ROAD HOUSE’ REMAKE
To prepare for his muscle-bound role and all the onscreen action, Gyllenhaal put in major work at the gym to not only look good but stay safe.
Gyllenhaal credited the stunt team and his trainer, Jason Walsh.
“We spent a ton of time focusing on not only the aesthetic of the character, which is obviously important when you’re making a movie, and you got to look a certain way for shots and things, but really trying to stay safe, functional and flexible when I’m doing all these stunts, so I don’t have injuries and sustained injuries throughout the whole thing.
Gyllenhaal said his training for the film wasn’t just to look good on camera, but “stay safe, functional and flexible when I’m doing all these stunts.” (Amazon/MGM)
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“One of the big things for me was, I want to be able to do a lot of these stunts. We did a lot of cardio to be able to maintain endurance throughout a whole day of doing stunts.
“We did a lot of strength training to be able to make sure that, like not just looking strong … but like the whole posterior, the backside of your body is so important when you’re falling, when you’re keeping yourself stable, like you want to have balance. And so we worked a lot on grappling, and, you know, there’s a lot of isometric work. Grappling is holding and keeping held and being able to have that energy. So, we worked very hard at trying to really train like a fighter.”
WATCH: JAKE GYLLENHAAL ON AGE BEING A FACTOR IN ‘ROAD HOUSE’ TRAINING
Gyllenhaal also admitted his age played a role in how he approached the training.
“Look, I’m, I’m 43. I was 41 when we made this movie, you know. A fall from three or four feet is different than ten years ago when I did another fight film called ‘Southpaw.’ Even taking those hits is different. So, we just wanted to be thoughtful, careful, push the physical limits as best as we could. And it took a long time. It took two months of hard prep before we began, and then this long journey of staying in it while we made it.”
Gyllenhaal admitted his age played a role in his training for the film, and he and the stunt team pushed “the physical limits as best as we could.” (Laura Radford © Amazon Content Services LLC)
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Even with all the focus on safety, Gyllenhaal still wound up with an injury during a scene with his co-star, MMA and UFC champ Conor McGregor.
On Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast earlier this month, Gyllenhaal and McGregor appeared together and revealed Gyllenhaal got a nasty cut on his hand while filming a scene where his character jumps over a bar as a truck crashes through a window.
“We’re fighting on the floor, fighting around tables, we’re fighting around glass, even if it’s breakaway glass,” but there was an unfortunate accident, Gyllenhaal said.
“I get up, I’m supposed to have been a little bit out of it. I put my hand on the bar, f—ing straight glass,” he said.
One of the many fight scenes featuring Conor McGregor and Gyllenhaal resulted in an injury for Gyllenhaal that led to a staph infection. ( Amazon Content Services LLC)
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“But the take I knew was good,” he added, saying he didn’t mention his injured hand right away to continue filming the scene.
“I was like, ‘We’re not doing it again.’ I felt the glass going in my hand,” Gyllenhaal recalled. “I remember the feeling and went, ‘That’s a lot of glass,’ and I just finished the f—ing take.
“My whole arm swelled up. It ended up being staph.
“There were things like that that happened all the time,” the “Jarhead” star said, “but, gratefully, I was really, really trying to take care of everything that we did and my body while we were doing it. I didn’t sustain any major injuries, which is a testament to the team I was working with.”
“Road House” will be available on Prime Video March 21.
