Jake Gyllenhaal reveals he cried on set of Guy Ritchies new film The Covenant

Publish date: 2024-05-05

Jake Gyllenhaal is no stranger to war films. He starred in Jarhead in 2005 and Brothers in 2009.

However, it is his new role in The Covenant, his latest film about combat and camaraderie, which changed him as an actor.

Speaking openly to news.com.au, the Hollywood star said he really connected with the heartfelt action-thriller on a deeper level and it helped him reset as an actor.

“I think the reason why I’m so moved by the movie – and I’ve never really cried in a movie I’ve been in, but I do at the end of this one – is because it reminds us who we are as humans. That we are good and our intentions are good,” he tells us of his upcoming movie, which premieres on Prime Video on June 16.

“Even if we do it begrudgingly, even if we’re totally reluctant, or even if we don’t even want to have to do it, the fact is you have it in you to want to [do good]. That’s very, very moving to me. And that changed me.”

In the film – which is co-written, produced and directed by Guy Ritchie – Gyllenhaal plays US Army Sergeant John Kinley, who is on his last tour of Afghanistan when his team is ambushed by the Taliban.

Only Kinley and his local interpreter Ahmed (played by Dar Salim) survive the onslaught, but with Kinley badly injured, Ahmed is forced to stage a gruelling one-man mission across endless miles of terrain to save the sergeant’s life.

“It’s a movie that’s about behaviour, and actually a movie of few words,” Gyllenhaal says. “It’s about a man who is there to help interpret a culture that is sort of an unknown. But in the end, what seems unknown is actually very similar. That these two people share so much more humanity than they expected or they would even like to.”

“That to me is what was so moving about the story and what makes it in the end a real parable. And we like to say that it’s an action parable, this movie. It’s not based on a true story but based on many, many different true stories about the idea of doing good despite oneself.”

The heart and messaging behind the story is certainly what attracted Gyllenhaal to the film – and the opportunity to work with Ritchie was also a major drawcard.

“I also have always loved Guy Ritchie. I’ve known him for about 15 years and I always wanted to work with him – and it just so happened that this came up now,” says Gyllenhaal, who adds that when they started filming, the script was only 60 pages long. This is unheard of in Hollywood but he said this unique filmmaking process lured him in.

“We started with a 60-page script and then it evolved. It found itself, we discovered the movie as we went and the relationships in it,” he explains.

“The making of the movie wasn’t just the script. We rewrote scenes every morning. You know we were working through the ideas every day over meals, we discovered things halfway through and then went back and got things for the beginning. This one was different because it wasn’t actually about the script, but it was about Guy wanting to do something different in his repertoire, which really excited me.”

Helping to evolve the film was Gyllenhaal’s co-star, Iraqi-born Danish actor Dar Salim, who in real life is a trained pilot and former Royal Guard in the Danish Army, serving guard duty at the royal palaces. He was humble when asked if his military background helped in his role in The Covenant, instead opting to give Ritchie all the praise.

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“I don’t think any one skill helps you with any one thing. You always bring everything you’ve done in your life with you every time you go on set. And especially, I think, on a set like this one, because Guy Ritchie works in a different way,” Salim tells us.

“The script is kind of a blueprint and he creates this wonderful, very special atmosphere where he knows what he wants. But a good leader also creates room for freedom and a safe environment where we sit around the table, eat some food, and you bring what you have. So all your skills, everything you’ve had, all your past experiences – subconsciously and unconsciously – will somehow help you in every way when you do this job.”

The Covenant premieres on Prime Video on June 16

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