“It’s hard, man. That acting is hard. All of it,” Gyllenhaal said. “That world is enormous. And I joined that world way into that run; a train that was already moving. Normally, I come in way early on and I get to figure it out.” Acting in the MCU was such a dramatic change of pace for Gyllenhaal that it resulted in bouts of anxiety on set. Or as Gyllenhaal put it, “I was freaking out. It was a scene with [Samuel L] Jackson, Tom [Holland]…there were a number of actors in that scene. And I remember not being able to remember my lines. I was the wooden board. And they were like, ‘Whoa’.”
Gyllenhaal continued, “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. I had to walk up [to people on set] and be like, ‘Look man, I just came off Broadway doing a one-man show for an hour and a half onstage, so I got this. Please, believe me’.” While rumors have persisted that Gyllenhaal could reprise his role of Mysterio in future MCU projects, neither the studio nor the actor has confirmed he’ll be back in the franchise. In the year after “Spider Man: Far From Home,” Gyllenhaal pivoted to producing with films such as “Relic,” “The Devil All the Time,” and “Joe Bell.” The actor had a voice role in “Spirit Untamed” earlier this year, but it’s his turn in “The Guilty” that marks Gyllenhaal’s live-action acting follow-up to the MCU. “The Guilty” is now streaming on Netflix. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
