Jake Gyllenhaal, now a renowned Oscar-nominated actor, reminisced about his journey through auditions filled with disappointments and setbacks during his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, March 21.
The 35-year-old star of Brokeback Mountain sat down with the 41-year-old host, Jimmy Fallon, to recount one of his most harrowing audition experiences till date — one where esteemed director Peter Jackson bluntly labeled him as the “worst actor” he had ever encountered.
Gyllenhaal shared that he was roped into the audition through a “conference call from around 14 agents,” who fervently believed he was perfect for the role of Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, debuting in 2001.
“They contacted me, and they were like, ‘Hey, guess what!'”
he mimicked the agents’ gruff voices while narrating the story.
“And I was like, ‘What?’
‘… and when they mentioned they needed a hobbit, we immediately thought of Jake!'”
Upon arrival at the audition, Gyllenhaal found himself perplexed by the instructions provided, which included “numerous stage directions” but lacked any actual lines to deliver.
Despite fumbling over to an imaginary chest and simulating picking up a ring, Jackson appeared far from impressed with his performance.
“Peter Jackson literally facepalmed,” Gyllenhaal recounted, revealing that the director candidly expressed to him, “You are the worst actor that I have ever seen.
Were you informed about the accent requirement?”
Unsurprisingly, Gyllenhaal didn’t secure the role (which ultimately went to Elijah Wood), but he did receive a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination in 2006 for his portrayal in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain.
Discover the various other roles Gyllenhaal tried out for but missed out on in the showcased clip!
