Jake Gyllenhaal was a perfect choice to play Quentin Beck a.k.a. Mysterio in the Spider-Man universe, but it didn’t come easy for the star of The Guilty. From being a fan of Marvel and Spider-Man to heading into the biggest franchise in the world right now, Gyllenhaal had some issues with taking on the role. Luckily, he had Tom Holland there to help calm him down and ease his anxiety about playing Quentin Beck.
On The Howard Stern Show, Gyllenhaal opened up about being on the set of Spider-Man: Far From Home and worrying about bringing Mysterio to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “I was freaking out. It was a scene with [Samuel L.] Jackson, Tom…there were a number of actors in that scene…And I remember not being able to remember my lines.”
Gyllenhaal went on, explaining the situation: “And I went up to Tom Holland and was like, ‘Dude, help me out.’ He’s like, ‘It’s all good, man. Just relax.’ It was like he was me in so many situations. And I finally did. I just put a lot of pressure on [myself] because I love that world.”
But more than that, he admitted to how much he loves the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “…I love that world, man. It’s not me coming in as an actor going like, ‘Oh, I’ve made 60 films…I know what I’m doing. It’s me coming in every time being like, ‘I love Spider-Man. I love this world. I want to kill it here.'”
To be quite honest, that might be why I loved his Quentin Beck so much. Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio was brilliant, and I think that Far From Home was an incredible Spider-Man movie despite not being set in New York City. Having people who care behind the scenes and playing these characters? It does make a difference. It’s why I love Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland so much, because they grew up loving Spider-Man and it shows in their performances.
Knowing that Jake Gyllenhaal has that same history and that he got help from Tom Holland (or, I guess, Spider-Man in this case) to calm down and have fun? That’s just an amazing story, especially given how fans have loved how close Holland and Gyllenhaal are. This story just gives us all more fuel to love their friendship.
I wish we could see more of Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck. I don’t think that we will, given his fate in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but with the multiverse, we have a world of endless possibilities. If that means Mysterio coming back to torment Peter Parker and Jake Gyllenhaal getting to be back in the MCU? Well, that’s just the icing on the Marvel cake, and I’d love to see it.
(via CBR, image: Marvel Entertainment)
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