Blast from the past! Jake Gyllenhaal poked fun at the hairdo he sports in his upcoming film Velvet Buzzsaw.
“Did I transform? No, I copied a haircut I had from the third grade,” the 38-year-old teased while speaking to Us Weekly and other reporters at the Los Angeles premiere of the horror flick on Monday, January 28. Gyllenhaal previously joked about his hairstyle via Instagram earlier on Monday, sharing a photo of his character making a horrified face alongside the caption, “Literally…the last time I visit Fantastic Sam’s. Believe it or not, I asked for this haircut. #velvetbuzzsaw 2.1.19.”
Gyllenhaal, who portrays art critic Morf Vandewalt, added to Us that he tried to “have fun” while shooting the “absurd satire” about professionals in the art world who seek money and power. Morf becomes involved with colleague Josephina (Zawe Ashton) as they pursue their shared passion.
However, exploring his character’s complex profession was no easy task. “As much as I researched this world, I am still baffled by the art world … because it’s really a fable,” the Oscar nominee explained. “It almost feels like a parable, the story. You’re painting with primary colors in terms of character in a lot of ways and so it depends on the genre or the specificity of the world you’re trying to tell.”
The Nightcrawler actor also opened up about the film’s deeper meaning while speaking to Variety on Monday. “I think you have to be careful in that this is a satire. For me, what was interesting in trying to create this character was the idea of a gay man going straight for a woman and the reasons why,” Gyllenhaal, who previously portrayed an LGBTQ character in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, told the news site.
“He says something very specific: ‘We have a taste relationship.’ It’s a relationship not necessarily based on the intimacies that you would hope for; it’s based on the fact that they both like the same kind of work and there’s sort of a vapidness within each character.”
Gyllenhaal, who has recently taken to Instagram to promote his projects, added to the outlet that he’s “confused” why he joined the social media app in December 2018 and doesn’t “even know why” he did so.
With reporting by Nicole Pajer
