-Welcome back to "Late Night." We're here with Jake Gyllenhaal.
We were talking about cats, and we were talking
about action movies. Watch this segue.
Some of my favorite acting you did is you were in,
in "Laser Cats," an "SNL" sketch.
-Ah, yes. -Were you what was your name?
Do you remember? Doctor? Maybe Dr. Scientist?
-Something like that. -Yeah.
-I just want to show a clip, and then just try to put us
in your head for the prep of a role like this.
Let's take a look at Jake and "Laser Cats."
Okay. -Eat laser.
[ Electricity crackles ]
-No! Nitro!
-Looks like it's the end of the line,
Andy-miral Spaceship.
-That may be, but you're forgetting one thing.
-[ Laughs ] What's that?
-I just started using Laser Cats again.
[ Laser cat rattles ]
[ Laser cat fires ]
[ Laughter ]
-So good. -That's so good.
-So good. -I love the, like --
the cross-cutting angle of the thing.
It's, like, so awesome. -It's real bad work.
-It's so good. \ -You elevated.
It's work that you elevated. -Yes, yes.
You got to, obviously, not just do fight scenes,
but you did fight scenes with Conor McGregor,
who, you know, fights professionally.
-Yeah. Does that make it more --
I don't know, is it helpful to do it with someone like that
or intimidating or a combo of both?
-I mean, I -- you know, they chased Conor to be in the movie
for a long time, and it was really important
to try and bring, like, the real UFC
and fighting into the movie, into, like
the fictional Hollywood space, you know.
And I think that is sort of what makes the whole movie.
And so, when he finally said he would do it,
I was so -- I remember getting the call.
I was, like, so psyched. And then I was like, "Oh, no."
[ Laughter ]
And -- But what I learned was, you know,
he was very humble in the process
to teach a fighter how to fake-fight.
It wasn't just him. We had a lot of fighters
or ex-fighters on it, but particularly the current,
you know, pro fighters are in the movie.
I was like, "So, you're not gonna hit me?"
And they were like... [ Laughter ]
"So, you're gonna just be a little bit off?"
And they were like, "Duh." [ Laughter ]
So that worried me when I... -Yeah.
[ Laughter ] -You know?
But, ultimately, like
the distance and accuracy of a professional in that space
is extraordinary. It's like millimeters.
So you end up feeling safer because they --
they really know that distance in a different way
than, like, say, another actor or, say --
Yeah, but -- And I think, in the end,
you know, Conor was coaching me through things.
It'd be like, we grapple in the movie a lot.
And he was, like, telling me how to win, you know?
He'd be like, "Right leg over, right leg over!
You're choking me out! Oh, that's good!
Yeah, you're choking me! Alright ."
Like, it was -- So it was helpful.
-That sounds helpful. [ Laughter ]
-I've never been in a fight, but I would love
if the person I was fighting would be that helpful.
[ Laughter ]
I was wondering, um, what's harder --
to fake-punch or to get fake-hit?
-Oh, well, I think fake-punching
is a little easier on the body
because, like, fake-hitting is, um --
like, you have to throw your neck a lot.
There's a lot of, like, neck throwing and, like,
that, after a while, definitely gets the neck.
But then, you know, it's fake. It's like being --
You know, we had this thing called a four-pass process,
where, like, first we did the Hollywood version,
which is, like, where we've seen in lots of movies
where you sell the punch
and you're just for the angle of the camera.
And then we did another one where you put a pad
so you could see the punch, so you can see the impact,
and then the next pass was. like, you get hit with the pad.
And then the last one was a slow-motion one,
where we actually hit but in slo-mo,
and it was, like, the most fun. -Yeah.
-The slo-mo was like, when you're a kid
and you're like, "I'm so -- Roa-oa-r."
And we all inevitably go "Roa-oa-r."
-Yeah, you gotta "Roar." -Of course.
-Come on, slo-mo, you got time, roar.
-They hit you, it's "Blea-ea-h. Roa-oa-r, blea-ea-h."
-You also, of course, have to do --
The sound effects are mostly, I would imagine,
ADR you get in post. -Yeah, mostly.
Unless you actually get... -When you actually get hit.
-But even that's not as good a sound as, like, a chicken.
-This is the real work that you're putting in, in the booth.
And it comes across onscreen. -Okay.
-Yeah. [ Grunts ] -I'm gonna make you suffer.
-Pain don't hurt. [ Grunts ]
Pain don't hurt.
-I'm gonna make you suffer. -Pain. [ Laughs ]
[ Laughter ]
Pain don't -- Pain don't hurt.
Pain don't hurt. [ Grunting ]
Pain don't hurt. Blah!
[ Chuckles ] -Great. Okay.
[ Laughter ]
-That was the director, Doug Liman.
He's very helpful. Very helpful. [ Cheers and applause ]
-That was -- Yes, that was on the ADR stage.
And we're looping over, like, the existing fights and stuff.
That was for the very last fight in the thing.
And we were... [ Chuckles ]
And I was [Clears throat] trying to get that line in there.
It obviously didn't make it in the final version of the movie.
[ Laughter ] -I do like that.
I feel like if that clip leaked without content,
like, without context, people will be like,
"What's up with Jake?" [ Laughter ]
-There is a weird thing I'm doing.
I don't know what this is,
but it's, like, some sort of weird move.
But I think I'm actually in the shot that you can see.
I'm like -- I'm, like, choking him out like that.
So I was sort of just trying -- -That's a good cover story,
but it is still weird to watch. -Yeah.
-Have you put any thought -- because you are
a very believable, uh, you know, UFC fighter in this --
Have you put any thought -- -The answer is no.
[ Laughter ]
-I bet you have, though, what I'm gonna ask.
-Okay. -Because there's always, like,
sort of psych-up walkout song for everybody.
-Oh, yeah. -But, like, you know,
I feel like you -- I also know you to be,
like, a big fan of, you know, theater and musicals.
Have you thought about, like, what you might walk out to?
-Well, yeah, because we actually --
I walked out to -- in a real UFC -- UFC 285.
We filmed there, and I filmed and walked out in the Octagon.
And they asked me over and over again, like, what --
They're like, "What song do you want for your character?"
And I just kept -- I was, like, couldn't --
I was like, "'Singing in the Rain'?"
[ Laughter ]
And they were like, "Yeah, no, no."
And I was like -- I'm like -- I mean,
like, any of Gene Kelly's stuff, I'm like...
And then they were like -- Finally, they were like,
"Should we just go default?" And I was like, "Yeah."
They're like, "Fine, you're going 'Enter Sandman.'
That's it." I was like, "Okay, cool."
So I would probably -- yeah, "Enter Sandman."
-I feel like a UFC fan is gonna love this movie
because of how much time and attention you guys put into it.
But if that UFC 285 was there,
and they knew they were filming a movie,
and you walked out to "Singing in the Rain,"
they'd be like, "Everything we thought
about Hollywood is true." [ Laughter ]
-I mean -- I mean, in truth, once we got in there
and we were fake-fighting, they said the same thing.
-Yeah. -You know what I mean?
-They were, like, patient for a minute.
Then, they were like, "Boo!" -They're like...
But, actually, there was a moment where Jay Hieron,
who I fought within it -- fake-fought within there --
he turned to me, because he's an ex-fighter,
and he said, "Listen, man, we're going to the Octagon.
If you really want to punch me, just do it."
And I was like, "No." [ Laughter ]
-That sounds like a trap. -Yeah.
-I feel like, if you punched him,
you'd be out here right now with, like, a crazy...
-Yeah, yeah. -...catcher's-mitt wrapping.
-[ Laughing ] Yes. -Um, the movie is so fun.
It's always so fun to have you here.
Thanks for coming back, Jake. -Good to be here.
Thank you for having me. -Jake Gyllenhaal, everybody.
"Road House" streaming now on Prime Video.
We'll be right back with Andrea Riseborough.