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FIRST LOOK

First Look: Jake Gyllenhaal is a Buff and Bloody Boxer in 'Southpaw'

by Ethan Anderton
November 28, 2014
Source: Deadline

There's no doubt that Jake Gyllenhaal is enjoying a career boom much in the same fashion that Matthew McConaughey has over the past few years. And just like McConaughey underwent a drastic transformation for his Oscar-winning role in Dallas Buyers Club, the Nightcrawler and Brokeback Mountain star has done something similar, but on the complete opposite end of the body spectrum. A first look photo from Antoine Fuqua's boxing drama Southpaw has just emerged, in which Gyllenhaal plays Junior Middleweight Champion Billy “The Great” Hope, and as you can see, the Oscar nominee is absolutely ripped. Look below!

Here's the first photo from Antoine Fuqua's Southpaw from Deadline (obviously):

On Gyllenhaal's performance, Fuqua said:

"Jake is going to change how people see him. 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 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."

Southpaw is directed by Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer, Olympus Has Fallen, Shooter, Training Day) and written by Kurt Sutter ("Sons of Anarchy" and "The Shield"). Jake Gyllenhaal plays Junior Middleweight Champion Billy “The Great” Hope, a lefty champ who loses everything in a personal tragedy and is forced to literally fight his way to redemption. Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and more star in the film expected in theaters sometime in 2015. Stay tuned for updates on the film as they arrive.

Find more posts: First Look, Photos

12 Comments

Well,...damn.

mooreworthy on Nov 28, 2014

looking forward to this

Quynh Truong on Nov 28, 2014

From NIGHTCRAWLER to this. Wow. Just have to admire some actors commitment to his or her characters. Just amazes.

DAVIDPD on Nov 29, 2014

Damn.

Reznik on Nov 29, 2014

Even though he already renewed my interest in him as an actor with Nightcrawler, this is still the last thing I would've expected him to do. But there he is and it's pretty astounding.

Terry Craig on Nov 29, 2014

Im mostly impressed with the fact that Jake was able to take his physique from nightcrawler to this in apparently a few months...

jay on Nov 29, 2014

astounding.

Lex on Nov 29, 2014

It's less impressive when you have hundreds of people working for you, preparing your meals, waking you up every day, professionals showing you what to do, taking you to events, catering to your needs, and the studio spending millions of dollars on dozens of trainers to work you into shape. With that kind of backing, anyone could do this.

Van Chandler on Dec 1, 2014

Too bad you can't.

EduardoRg on Dec 1, 2014

That's an interesting assumption.

Van Chandler on Dec 2, 2014

This argument is getting old. Of course anyone has the capability to do this. It's the pain and discipline (regardless of one's support group) that is to be admired.

Roger Mexico on Dec 2, 2014

Right. True. That's why I said less impressive - not that it wasn't impressive at all. But if a homeless man did this, that would be a bigger achievement, because he lacks the millions of dollars and countless resources to do the same thing. Both men would still need to put in the work, sure. It's just far easier for someone like Jake to do it than an average person like us. When a studio is paying you millions of dollars of incentive to get into shape (and keeping in mind you're already in good shape to begin with), it's not some mind-blowing revelation to see someone look the way Jake does now. I'm more impressed when a woman after giving birth to a child or an overweight man does this for no reason other than to feel better about themselves and to live longer. That's a much bigger accomplishment.

Van Chandler on Dec 2, 2014

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