Jake Gyllenhaal’s Behind-the-Scenes Drama That Ruined a Brilliant French Movie 

Summary:

• Thomas Bidegain, a famous French director, released the film Suddenly in 2023, which received rave reviews, but was originally supposed to star Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby.
• Gyllenhaal reportedly disrupted filming by yelling at the director, swimming in the icy sea in his underwear, and reading his part with the accent of a Looney Tunes character.
• As a result, Bidegain refused to make a movie with Hollywood actors and reportedly refused to sell the rights to the script to Kirby.

Thomas Bidegain is a famous French director whose latest film, Suddenly, was recently released to rave reviews from critics and audiences.

But few people know that the movie was supposed to be released several years ago, and the main roles were supposed to be played not by French actors, but by Hollywood stars.

In particular, Jake Gyllenhaal, who not only played the main character, but also became one of the producers of the film, and Vanessa Kirby.

Suddenly's Production Did Not Start in the Best Way

Serious problems started immediately on the set, all related to Jake Gyllenhaal's personality. From the very first days of participation in the project, he began to behave extremely strange and provocative, according to Technikart.

For instance, just eight weeks before filming was supposed to start and during the construction of the sets, Gyllenhaal wanted to completely rewrite and reorganize the movie. This resulted in scandals, which ruined the positive team dynamic before production even started.

Gyllenhaal Baffled the Film Crew with Strange Behavior

Gyllenhaal had a number of bizarre antics. He yelled at the director while he read the script, insisted on driving a car of a specific color that could not be red or white, and urged the set builders to sleep in their cars out of fear that they would bring COVID to the hotel where he was staying.

And the strangest thing happened when Gyllenhaal, while visiting filming locations, decided to strip down to his underwear and dive into the icy ocean, because when he sees the sea, he swims in the sea.

It is also reported that the actor conducted the first reading for his role as the voice of the skunk Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes. Well, at least it was probably hilarious.

This was the end of the project for Jake Gyllenhaal. The director refused to work with him, went to France, found local actors and returned to the project a little over a year later.

This time, everything went smoothly, and the movie was released in 2023, receiving rave reviews from critics and viewers and becoming one of the brightest French films of the year.

However, a source close to the film's production told IGN that Kirby and Gyllenhaal only came to Iceland to discuss the script, and that the movie itself had not yet been greenlit.

At the same time, the director claims that Vanessa Kirby wanted to buy the rights to the script for Suddenly in order to make it without Bidegain but with Gyllenhaal, which the director refused to do.

Sources: Technikart