Soon after sister Maggie Gyllenhaal earned several nominations for stepping behind the camera as both writer and director of Oscar-nominated Netflix film “The Lost Daughter,” Jake Gyllenhaal reportedly directed scenes for Michael Bay’s “Ambulance.” Gyllenhaal stars as a bank robber who teams up with his brother, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, for their largest heist yet. When their plan goes south, the duo end up hijacking an ambulance as a getaway vehicle. Abdul-Mateen told Esquire that Gyllenhaal “loves the camera,” and even took over as a director for certain scenes. “There were times when he would take the camera from Mike [Bay] and then you look around and Jake is shooting the scene,” Abdul-Mateen said. “I had never seen anything like that before. I’m curious about those things, but I would never ask the director if I could shoot a scene.”
“Ambulance” is based on the 2005 Danish movie of the same name. Garret Dillahunt, A Martinez, Keir O’Donnell, and Moses Ingram round out the cast of the actioner, which premieres in theaters April 8. As for Gyllenhaal, the actor told Esquire that director Bay “can be brash and he can be awkward,” but that the production was a fun experience. Abdul-Mateen, meanwhile, credited Gyllenhaal for making the “entire set his playground.” Gyllenhaal is currently adapting Gary Shteyngart’s novel “Lake Success” for the small screen through his production company Nine Stories. Gyllenhaal is slated to play the lead role, a narcissistic hedge fund manager who takes a cross-country bus ride to reunite with his college girlfriend and his conscience. HBO was originally attached to the project but it is now being shopped to various networks. There has been no word as of yet whether this project would mark Gyllenhaal’s true directorial debut. Gyllenhaal previously told Variety in 2014 that he was “searching” for the right project to formally make his directorial debut. “I have yet to feel presumptuous enough,” the “Velvet Buzzsaw” star said, adding that he will know what the project is when his “heart lines up with the material in a visual way.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
