E-Junkies: Jake Gyllenhaal loves showing people we can all do good

Jake Gyllenhaal is in familiar territory with his new role as US Army Sergeant John Kinley in Guy Ritchie's The Covenant.

Fans may remember him fondly from Jarhead (2005), where he played Marines recruit Anthony 'Swoff' Swoffhead in a story that shows his journey from being a reluctant recruit to rising up (and being demoted down) the ranks.

Jake, 42, told AsiaOne in a recent interview how The Covenant was different: "The first character I played who was in the military was a recruit in the Marines, so I was much younger then.

"A lot of the issues that I was dealing with and that he (Swoff) was dealing with are different from someone who's had more experience and is now a Special Ops sergeant and has been through and seen a lot of things.

"The choices that this character (John) has to make are about what's really inside him and I think, reluctantly and begrudgingly, he finds that there is good there."

In The Covenant, John is deployed in Afghanistan and meets interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim), and the two don't "really like each other very much from the jump", according to Jake.

Nevertheless, Ahmed risks his own life to carry an injured John across Taliban-controlled lands to safety. When John realises later on that Ahmed and his family have not been given the safe passage to the United States they were promised, he goes back to rescue Ahmed in return.

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"That's why I loved it, that it's possible to do good even for those you might not think are people that you even enjoy," Jake continued, "and I love that idea, that we all have it in us no matter what."

Jake also talked about his work with The Headstrong Project, a US non-profit mental health organisation providing PTSD treatment to military veterans and their families, and how he wanted to "portray a complex, interesting character that does them right".

For the full interview including whether actor Dar Salim feared he would be typecast as a man of Middle Eastern origin in Hollywood, watch our latest episode of E-Junkies.

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drimac@asiaone.com

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