Speaker 1: One or two point seven Kiss FM. It's Ryan Seacrest
Speaker 1: with you. Thanks for having a son this morning. Going
Speaker 1: to bring in Jake Jillenhall here. Hey, hey there you are.
Speaker 2: Sorry, no worry. I've been like I've been like, I've
Speaker 2: been sitting here and I'm like, wait, how does this work?
Speaker 1: No, no problem? Are you mobile?
Speaker 2: I am?
Speaker 3: I am sitting in a car, so let me just
Speaker 3: turn off the air.
Speaker 1: So you guys are you Are you actually driving yourself somewhere?
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, it's weird. I'm I'm on my way to work.
Speaker 2: I'm at work, but I'm sitting in the car.
Speaker 1: This is this is perfect because this is how we
Speaker 1: like to think of people listening to the show. So, Jake,
Speaker 1: you're playing the role of a listener right now, which
Speaker 1: is a role you've never taken on before. I think,
Speaker 1: Jake Jillenholl with us.
Speaker 2: It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for coming on. We were just talking about
Speaker 1: you earlier, and you know, with the roles that you
Speaker 1: take on. Sysney actually said something very funny, which was,
Speaker 1: I don't even know if I find know who Jake
Speaker 1: Gillenhall is, because every time he takes on a role
Speaker 1: it's like so mental and physical, you know exactly, Like
Speaker 1: that's a compliment.
Speaker 2: That is a couple and thank you. That's sweet.
Speaker 3: I mean I think that's the role of the actor,
Speaker 3: isn't it.
Speaker 2: I mean in a way.
Speaker 1: So who are you you would like to get to
Speaker 1: know Jake?
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 3: I'm an actor and I play different roles, but as
Speaker 3: a person, my name is Jake Gillenhall and I've been
Speaker 3: doing it for a while.
Speaker 1: And do you is this true? Then? Do you bake
Speaker 1: sourdough bread? Is that something that Jake Gillenhall does?
Speaker 3: Yes, I have been known to bake sourdough bread, which
Speaker 3: is not a common occurrence amongst those of us who
Speaker 3: have been through this period of time. I think sourdough
Speaker 3: bread baking has become popular, but I have continued.
Speaker 1: Through the fermented foods are a whole category of love
Speaker 1: for me.
Speaker 3: Oh yes, the smell, you know, the early stages of
Speaker 3: the smelling of a of a starter. There's nothing like it.
Speaker 1: So Jake is here, Guy Richie's the Covenant in theaters
Speaker 1: and thinking about this role and other roles that we
Speaker 1: were talking about a second ago, that you take on.
Speaker 1: These are these are not things where I would imagine
Speaker 1: you just kind of you show up and you do
Speaker 1: your work and then you can put it down. It
Speaker 1: seems very physically and mentally demanding for this role and
Speaker 1: a lot of the roles that you're well known for.
Speaker 1: Before you jump into something like this, what goes through
Speaker 1: your mind? Is there like a is there a last
Speaker 1: weekend of reality before something like this role sets in?
Speaker 3: You know, it's funny, this movie was a blast to make,
Speaker 3: so you know, I there are moments where I'm being
Speaker 3: sort of dragged across the desert by the guy who
Speaker 3: plays my interpreter because I get my carriage gets pretty injured.
Speaker 3: But you know, I shot that basically just you know,
Speaker 3: sitting in a cart, So that wasn't that difficult or
Speaker 3: laying there.
Speaker 2: But like we know, guy Ritchie who directed the movie, he.
Speaker 3: Barbecues every day, so he has a barbecue on set
Speaker 3: and so basically like we and we only had sixty
Speaker 3: pages of a script.
Speaker 2: We didn't have a full written script.
Speaker 3: So he would write as the days went on and
Speaker 3: we would all eat in the morning, like he'd make
Speaker 3: coffee at the barbecue in the morning. We talk about
Speaker 3: the scenes we're gonna do and then he would like
Speaker 3: cook throughout the day, so it wasn't really that tough.
Speaker 1: So you're playing Army Sergeant John Kinley and there's there's
Speaker 1: blood rolling down your forehead and you're smelling the aroma
Speaker 1: of hickory.
Speaker 3: I mean, yes, that's a perfectly put Yes there is
Speaker 3: a scene. Yes, there's a scene where I get hit
Speaker 3: by the butt of a goud that I do bleed,
Speaker 3: and I am bleeding in some of it. But yeah,
Speaker 3: off screen when we finished, there was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: I mean, guy Richie's you know, the guy Richie. We
Speaker 3: know he's blast, He's hilarious and and uh and I
Speaker 3: think that's the thing some people, And over the years
Speaker 3: I've learned has taken me a long time learn I
Speaker 3: think acting is somewhat of a ridiculous thing but also
Speaker 3: pretty incredible at the same time. You have to have
Speaker 3: an imagine to do it. Sometimes I've taken roles I
Speaker 3: played very seriously and dug in really deep and lived
Speaker 3: the life of the character and all that. But I've
Speaker 3: discovered that the person who I am, the person who
Speaker 3: I what I really love to do is use my imagination.
Speaker 3: So I love doing a scene and then being able
Speaker 3: to break from it and then have a good time after.
Speaker 2: I mean, there are moments that you you know, something's
Speaker 2: very emotional. Yeah, but generally yes, it should be fun.
Speaker 1: But tell us about this guy, because he's carrying a
Speaker 1: serious burden.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I play. His name is John Kinley.
Speaker 3: He's a special Operations sergeant and his group is soldiers
Speaker 3: is tasked with finding munitions in Afghanistan and they struggle
Speaker 3: doing that, and early on in the movie, they lose
Speaker 3: their interpreter and he's assigned a new one, one he
Speaker 3: doesn't really like very much, and then they get into
Speaker 3: some trouble and then the two of them are left
Speaker 3: together and they have to sort of survive and the
Speaker 3: interpreter ends up saving his life. And in short, basically,
Speaker 3: after a very long journey of getting him John my
Speaker 3: character back to the States, he realizes his interpreter is
Speaker 3: still there, and so he goes back because of the
Speaker 3: burden that he feels for having his life saved and
Speaker 3: not being not feeling like he can really live his
Speaker 3: own life if he doesn't save the other person who
Speaker 3: saved his life.
Speaker 2: So he goes back and he.
Speaker 3: He goes through the journey of saving Ahmed, his interpreter
Speaker 3: and his family to bring them back to the to
Speaker 3: America and fulfill the promise of getting him the visa
Speaker 3: that all the interpreters were.
Speaker 1: Promised, right, and the promise, you know, not fulfilled. And
Speaker 1: it got me to thinking about you look at the
Speaker 1: news and I'm watching these drones getting citizens out of
Speaker 1: Sudan in convoys, and you just are wondering what's really
Speaker 1: going on and what promises are made that are not fulfilled.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we have an ethos. I think of no one
Speaker 3: left behind, you know, that is our ethos. And I
Speaker 3: think you know the relationship between interpreters all over the
Speaker 3: world world and the soldiers who you know, my one
Speaker 3: of my favorite lines in the movie is I say,
Speaker 3: so you're going to tell me? I say to him,
Speaker 3: like he helps me with some things, that you're going
Speaker 3: to tell me how to speak English? And I said,
Speaker 3: what are you here? You're here to translate? And he says,
Speaker 3: I'm not here to translate, I'm here to interpret. And
Speaker 3: I think it's it's about interpreting behavior, cultural behavior and
Speaker 3: helping and saving lives.
Speaker 2: You know, my good friend is a marine.
Speaker 3: He thought in Fallujah and his interpreter he says, he
Speaker 3: owes his life to He's since brought his interpreter's daughters
Speaker 3: to the States and they now work for New York City.
Speaker 3: And you know, I think there's this exchange between cultures.
Speaker 3: We all share a common humanity, you know, and I
Speaker 3: think it's it's hard to see that, but it is true.
Speaker 3: And that's what this movie is about, is the shared
Speaker 3: humanity two men from two completely different places, and the
Speaker 3: ethos that we have as a country, which is no
Speaker 3: one left behind.
Speaker 1: Guy Richie's The Covenant in theaters. Now, go see it, right,
Speaker 1: go see it on the VICTI.
Speaker 2: It's also really entertaining. I mean it is like an
Speaker 2: action movie, so I mean a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean we like to call it an action parable
Speaker 3: because it's not like this like heavy.
Speaker 2: It's pretty.
Speaker 3: It's emotional because I think it leaves you feeling like
Speaker 3: the goodness in your own heart. You know.
Speaker 2: I believe like as Americans, you know, we are we're.
Speaker 3: Country made of heroes, you know, we really are, and
Speaker 3: and I think that is oftentimes reluctant heroes, but heroes nonetheless,
Speaker 3: you know. And it's a movie that reminds you of
Speaker 3: the good that America can do and can be and
Speaker 3: that's inspiring.
Speaker 2: And at the same time, you know you'll pay for
Speaker 2: your seat, but you'll only need the.
Speaker 1: Well, thanks for calling, man, I know you said you're
Speaker 1: on your way to work. Are you doing another film? Now?
Speaker 2: I'm doing a show.
Speaker 3: I'm doing this Apple series called Presumed Innocent, which is
Speaker 3: an incredible cast and incredible group of people. So yeah,
Speaker 3: we're doing it right now.
Speaker 2: So I turn off my the I turn off the
Speaker 2: air in my car.
Speaker 1: So yeah, listening now, Thanks for calling, buddy, have a
Speaker 1: great day at work.
Speaker 3: Bye.
Speaker 2: A nice guy.
Speaker 1: Now I feel like I know him. I'm in love
Speaker 1: with him, I know, you know what I mean. Like
Speaker 1: that's that kind of yeah right, so down to earth,
Speaker 1: so down to earth. He also just seems like happy,
Speaker 1: go lucky.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: Those people, just like I liked hearing how He's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I can do the serious thing, but then I can
Speaker 1: turn it off and you because that I don't know,
Speaker 1: we well, first of we can't do any of that.
Speaker 1: But like, if something happens emotionally, I can't just like
Speaker 1: flip the switch off, even if it's us talking about
Speaker 1: Ryan's roses. I'm like beat for two hours all right,
Speaker 1: so I gotta see that at the theater right now.
Speaker 1: Of course you're talking about baking sour dough bread. It's
Speaker 1: all I'm thinking about. What are you gonna put on it?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put honey on it. That's I'm gonna put
Speaker 1: on it, fresh un money. Yeah, that's it. Well I
Speaker 1: could no, that's it right now, it's I'm gonna put
Speaker 1: on it. George Lopez is gonna be playing at the
Speaker 1: Greek this summer. Tickets and neck