Jake Gyllenhaal transforms into a championship middle weight boxer for his upcoming role in The Weinstein Company’s Southpaw — and he’s barely recognizable!
‘Jake is going to change how people see him,’ director Antoine Fuqua told Deadline.
‘I had him training twice a day in the boxing ring, he did two-a-days seven days a week. I pretty much had him with me and my trainer every day.
‘I took him to almost every fight. I had him train at Floyd Mayweather’s gym in Vegas and we watched Floyd’s fights, and the Manny Pacquiao fight.’
He added: ‘He trained in New York at Church Gym with real fighters. We literally turned him into a beast.
‘Jake, my God, he’s a very electric, powerful fighter in this movie, and a guy who fights for his daughter.
‘I’m confident that this will change how people see Jake, as a leading man.
‘He was training like a fighter. I had him sparring, really getting hit. I put him in situations where I wanted to see what he was made of. No one but fighters understand the sacrifice it takes to be a fighter.’
After he lost 30lbs for his most recent role in Nightcrawler, the mass gain looks that much more intense.
Southpaw hits theaters next year.
[via Daily Mail]
