Ian McKellen Pissed Off at Jake

[Nicole]

So, this thread was really going well on IMDb......until it abruptly got deleted.  So, I thought I'd start it again here.

This is the article referred to:

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/mckellen%20blasts%20gyllenhaal_30_03_2006

So, thoughts?  Opinions? 

[vkm91941]

Much as I respect Sir Ian, I think his comment is a bit of over reacting and does more to reinforce the sterotypes of the gay community than any thing these actors have said.  I thought it was very brave of Jake and Heath to admit their fears and their need to confront and over come their hidden homophobic thoughts in order to take on these roles.  It never came across as disrespectful to me when taken within the context of his whole statement..JMO

[henrypie]

I thought the thing about Helen Mirren was the cherry on top of a sundae of silliness -- couldn't take his comment very seriously.  I get his feeling, but I feel as if he's giving him a hard time unnecessarily.

[chefjudy]

 I have always been a big fan of Ian, his portrait of James Whale should go down in movie history as one of the great roles ever.  But I doubt that Jake was trying to be offensive in any way to gays in his statement - it was just a difficult thing for him to do - fortunately, onscreen it came across very natural and I might add, beautiful to watch........... 

[starboardlight]

I do see Ian's point. I sometimes wish people would just get over the guy kissing guy thing, but reality is, the apprehension is there. I don't know if it's different in England, but here in the US, it's been drilled into us. I'm a gay man and I was scared to kiss a man at one point in my life. I give Jake credit for admitting that it scared him. I also give him credit for being able to challenge himself and confront that fear, and not just confronting it, but pulled out an unbelievably compelling performance for us.

[monimm18]

I give Jake credit for admitting that it scared him. I also give him credit for being able to challenge himself and confront that fear, and not just confronting it, but pulled out an unbelievably compelling performance for us.

Amen.

I think Sir McK is taking things a bit too personally and negatively. Of course Jake was scared, he was going to play a gay man by examplifying it with actual kisses, for a mainstream and predominantly homophobic audience that might reject his role, his film and even him for doing it. It's a totally different thing than a man, gay or not, kissing a woman in a film, that thing is accepted already. I thought Ian McKellen was capable to realize the difference... His comment would be justified in a world free of homophobia, where one can kiss anybody on screen without fear of driving their carrier in a cul de sac.

[delalluvia]

I think Ian is overreacting.

Jake was just being honest.  And it also allowed other men to empathize with him - new experiences can be scary and intimidating if you're not used to it, I don't care what experiences they are.

[rtprod]

Okay, like I posted this afternoon, I disagree with nearly everyone.

You're an actor -- get over it.  Stop.  Now.  It's another human being, and Heath very nicely said this in Rolling Stone.  Kissing another person is not awful no matter what the sex.  New?  Yes.  Uncomfortable?  Maybe a little.  But the level of apprehension and hurdles Jake claims he faced were not believable or professional to his craft.  I know, I know, he's a young kid, etc.....

European actors are very candid and complimentary about their same-sex onscreen trysts.  No ego or fears or defenses.

Jake, for all the Gyllenhaalics who will crucify me, continued on ad nauseum (anyone see the Oprah hand-kiss?  Now that grossed me out) about his prejudices, fears, etc., though I think it was Ang Lee who said that Jake's personal feelings came out in the tent scenes (or the first one)...

Go ahead -- give me hell!   

Sorry guys...   

rt

[delalluvia]

Okay, like I posted this afternoon, I disagree with nearly everyone.

You're an actor -- get over it.  Stop.  Now.  It's another human being, and Heath very nicely said this in Rolling Stone.  Kissing another person is not awful no matter what the sex.  New?  Yes.  Uncomfortable?  Maybe a little.  But the level of apprehension and hurdles Jake claims he faced were not believable or professional to his craft.  I know, I know, he's a young kid, etc.....

European actors are very candid and complimentary about their same-sex onscreen trysts.  No ego or fears or defenses.

Jake, for all the Gyllenhaalics who will crucify me, continued on ad nauseum (anyone see the Oprah hand-kiss?  Now that grossed me out) about his prejudices, fears, etc., though I think it was Ang Lee who said that Jake's personal feelings came out in the tent scenes (or the first one)...

Go ahead -- give me hell!   

Sorry guys...   

rt

Hiya rtprod,

Yeah, Heath said that, but he also said he and Jake horsed around and 'joked' while filiming the actual tent scene.  Obviously after so many takes, they get used to kissing each other, but first off?  Obviously there was some apprehension.

Yeah, they're actors,so why is Heath still nervous on stage?   You could just say 'he's an actor!  Get over it!'.  That won't make him less shy or nervous doing a performance in front of an audience.

[rtprod]

Hi Del,

I think Jake was talking (on and on and on) about something other than just the general overall nervousness of acting. 

He was, at every turn, asserting his offscreen heterosexuality (if that even turns out to be the case we are not yet sure), distancing himself from the characters by alternately claiming they were straight guys who just happened to fall in love, etc., combined with his talk (and talk) about his own prejudices, etc. 

Why not just do like Gael Garcia Bernal, Antonio Banderas, Stephane Rideau and Javier Bardem (who said he personally had to find a way to be attracted to his costars in Before Night Falls)?  They all praised the material, their director and costars as attractive, said the experiences were about learning and growing as people, and certainly pleasant. 

Jake's push-pull of the press, material and his own odd takes on the characters and his sexuality really turned me off.  And I like Jake, so I have no bias against him.  I found his remarks increasingly bizarre and sort of offensive, though he didn't intend them as such.

Just my twenty cents or so.

rt