Jake Gyllenhaal honored to enter 'sacred space' of UFC octagon for 'Road House' fight scenes
Jake Gyllenhaal considers himself fortunate that he was able to use the UFC platform for scenes in the upcoming “Road House” movie.
During UFC 285 in March 2023, Gyllenhaal made a surprise appearance at the weigh-ins and on fight night when he recorded scenes for the film with UFC veteran Jay Hieron in front of a live audience.
Those scenes are incorporated in the upcoming remake of the cult classic, and it releases March 21 on Amazon Prime. For him to play the role of a UFC fighter was a challenge he said he took great respect and seriousness for.
“Throughout the shooting, I was sort of in that mentality (of a UFC fighter), and physically, I definitely felt that way,” Gyllenhaal told MMA Junkie. “I was training every day and getting ready. So at a certain point, you have to convince yourself of that stuff as an actor. Ultimately in the end it was the energy of the crowd. As soon as I could feel that crowd and get the camera on you and come out – I realized, and I think I knew this before but I didn’t really feel it until I was in there – that’s a sacred space, the octagon. People don’t get to go in there unless they’re actually fighting.
“To be able to be in there and do that was really an honor for me. I took it pretty seriously. But at the same time I perform live on stage and things like that, so there were elements that were somewhat similar, though nothing similar at all.”
Gyllenhaal displayed a tremendous physique in the scenes, and said he studied hours of UFC film to help him get a firm idea about the movements and tendencies of UFC fighters. He discovered that individuality is a huge part of what makes UFC fighters unique, and did his best to portray that so it was also in tone with his character, Elwood Dalton.
“I just focused,” Gyllenhaal said. “There’s just a focus and you have that before any sort of live event. You’ve just got to focus on the task at hand. I just tried to emulate what I’ve seen and studied other fighters and studied those walkouts. They’re all so different, and then you start to realize it’s really about the individual, and each individual doesn’t need to come out as so tough. They come out however they want to come out, and they’re fierce however they’re fierce.
“Ultimately it was just a crazy honor. It was one of those amazing things I pinch myself in my life that I got to do.”