Jake Gyllenhaal will take any chance he can get to sing Patrick Swayze’s praises.
The two first met in the early 2000s when they worked on the sci-fi psychological thriller Donnie Darko. Fast-forward two decades later, and Gyllenhaal is playing an eerily similar role Swayze made famous in the 1989 action drama Road House.
On Tuesday, the 43-year-old actor gushed over the late Swayze while speaking to ET’s Rachel Smith at the New York City premiere of Road House at the Lincoln Center, where Gyllenhaal recalled meeting Swayze for the first time. The meeting led to a beautiful friendship that lasted until Swayze’s untimely death in September 2009 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
“I mean, from the jump, from the moment I met Patrick — we worked on the [2001] movie Donnie Darko — and from all the scenes we filmed and throughout the years, him and his wife, Lisa [Niemi] — and even Lisa to this day — have been just loving and supportive,” Gyllenhaal recalled. “I mean, they were just such a beautiful couple. I think he was raised in that sort of theatrical dancing ensemble idea, and he always brought that to the groups that he worked with and brought that to me. He would just, I mean, so many different times just … they’re kind, giving. That was his spirit.”
It was Swayze who made the role of James Dalton famous in 1989’s Road House, a brawler with suave skills who was incredibly adept at deescalating fiery situations. Gyllenhaal’s character, Elwood Dalton, is a former UFC fighter hired by a road house owner (Jessica Williams) in the Florida Keys to also try and help keep the peace among her rowdy clientele.
“It takes a lot to get me angry, but when I am, I just can’t let go,” Gyllenhaal’s character admits in the trailer, which is full of epic fights against everyone, including the rich businessman threatening to shut down the club, played by Billy Magnussen, and the menacing hitman he hires, played by real-life UFC legend Conor McGregor.
“No one ever wins a fight,” Elwood tells nurse and love interest Ellie, played by Daniela Melchior, in the trailer.
The remake made its world premiere at the 2024 SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, where Gyllenhaal got a standing ovation for his deft performance. Not only did Gyllenhaal undergo a dramatic body transformation for the role, but director Doug Liman has gone on the record to say it’s arguably Gyllenhaal’s best work to date.
“He says it,” Gyllenhaal told 360aproko of Liman’s high praise. “But I think it’s… I made a movie with a friend. I’ve been friends with Doug Liman for over 15 years, and he said to me, ‘I want to make a movie and show people things that I see when we get to hang out.’ And that’s what you want from your director, you know, someone [to] pull things out of you that are new, that challenge you. And, really, our friendship’s in this movie and his sense of humor is in it, too. And he made a great movie.”
