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The first file is from a show in England called T4
CLICK ON THE LINK TO HEAR THE FILE.
T4 Interview
The second file, also from England is from a show called Exclusive
Exclusive Interview
The third is from a show called Flash
Flash Interview

A special THANK YOU to Lauren, who provided these sound files and interviews from England.

GOOD MORNING ARIZONA (2-17-99)

Tara Hitchcock : New comer Jake Gyllenhaal is wonderful in his first big film. He told me about the day he got the call.
Jake Gyllenhaal: I came home from school,uh, at the end of the day, and he (his dad) walked up to me,and he said now I want you to finish school . And I didn't understand what he was talking about. What, OK I'll finish school, and he said I want you to finish school. I want you to get an education, and you got the part. And I remember raising my hands up higher than they've ever gone, and then just slamming them down on the counter. And them throbbing red, ( smiling) like with excitement. A just I couldn't really explain how I felt at that moment except the sheer joy of being able to fulfill a dream that I've always had.
T H: Sounds like his on screen character
J G: It's like that first rocket goes up and I, his, my hands are throbbing. It's like the same thing

****End of Transcript****

THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN (2-18-99)

Dave:Our next guest is a talented actor who stars in a fine new motion picture called October Sky. It opens, oh! tomorrow. Ladies and gentlemen , here's Jake Gyllenhaal , come on out Jake.
D: Thanks for coming to the show. I've seen your movie, I've read the book. It's great fun you know.
Jake: Thank you
D: It's like I was telling magic(magic Johnson was the first guest) it's a true story , and it's been enhanced here and there, none the less your confident that everything you see there more or less actually took place. And it's fun too isn't it ?
J: It's wonderful !
D: Tell the folks what this film is about.
J: It's about, it's a true story about a guy named Homer Hickam who built rockets in 1957 . Who after seeing Sputnik go up ,
D: Got very excited about space.
J: Got very excited about space and decided that with his friends they would start building amateur rockets. With the help of a scientist who was a friend of theirs, with science and mathematics and that's there thing.
D:And it became more than just a little hobby. It became a struggle to get out of what was not a very promising situation because of
J:Coal mining , yes !
D: And it's a great, and you play ?
J: I play the guy who sort of ignites the passion all of the boys. The story is written by a guy named Homer Hickam, and I play him. And the book actually The Rocket Boys is.
D: Homer Hickam, maybe you know this maybe you don't know. Homer Hickam taught me to scuba dive.
J: I do know that ! I do know that!
D: And I can't tell you how crushed I was that that's not in the film..
J: (laughing) Homer tried to get it in, infact he wanted me to tell you that he's extremely sorry.
D: (laughing) Yeah, well he ought to be, by God. But now,
J: There was a scene that we shot actually, a love scene actually, in the water with scuba gear.
D: Wait hold on here, hang on
J: And it was cut out unfortunately
D: Thank goodness! But when your reading the book. The exciting thing for me other than the human real life drama is. The exciting thing is the actual building and launching of these rockets. What great fun that must have been. And toward the end of their little rocket club, they had things that were going 30,000 feet into the sky. Weren't they.
J: Yeah, I mean, I think indirectly I had absolutely nothing to do with that.
D: Well that's the question I wanted to ask you. Where did, where in the film did you guys get those rockets ? Cuz they looked like the real deal to me when you guys were setting them off.
J: From the prop guy, because basically yeah, from the prop guys.
D:And they were building rockets. While your out there filming, their working there in the back with gun powder n' stuff.
J: Exactly, no actually Homer helped them build the rockets
D: Is that right!
J: Yeah he helped them and when I was trying to develop the character, and I was trying to figure out who this guy was. I wanted to get like a specific characteristic that I could get. He has a little bit of a lisp I wanted to get that, or maybe something. And then I watched him with the rockets, and when he was building them and we were launching them. It's his passion, that's the major aspect.
D: And he went on to work for N.A.S.A.
J: Yep, and he's retired now, he retired in february,last February so, and he's now scuba diving actually, he's scuba diving so.
D: (laughing) Did a, you mind if I ask you about your last name. Did I get it right, is it Gyllenhaal ?
J:Gyllenhaal (In a reassuring manner)
D: But it's spelled with a G.
J:With a G, yes, but the Phonetics of it are like Jil-lin-haul.
D: Is it European ?
J:It's Swedish, actually it's a strange story about how we got our name, a my great great great great great great great great great great grandfather was a butterfly catcher and cataloger.

I got a note from Sweden from Jake's cousin . This note stated that Jake's great great great great great great great great great great grandfather did indeed collect insects, but he collected Beetles not Butterflies

D:Oh! he was not, come on!(sarcastically)
J: Yep! yep, nope !
D: Come on, don't lie to me son!
J: And a,
D: How dumb do you think I am ?
J:And a, he cataloged butterflies, so he was actually asked by the king or queen of Sweden, queen Christina. I'm it was a king or a queen, or if it was a Christina, or if it was something. And, uh, he was asked by him to a catalog butterflies for the kingdom. And he put them in the golden hall right outside the castle. And he ordained him the court butterfly catcher, gave him a coat of arms, and now we are named golden hall or Gyllenhaal.
D:Gyllenhaal is golden hall in Swedish.
J:(saying it at the same time as Dave) golden hall in Swedish.
D: Wow! that's a nice story.
J:Well actually my mother's side are all scuba divers.
D:If you would have been able to work the word hydraulic in that you would have gone home with 400 bucks!(That was the secret word that night)
J:Eeh!
D:Well lets quickly show a clip of the film.
J: OK, yes
D: I think people will love this film.
J: I hope so, I mean it's a great great story,
D: What are people going to see here?
J:I think they're going to see right now the scene where we launch our first rocket, made out of a flash light.
D:Where it goes into the fence.
J:Yes
D: There goofing around, and the rocket blows up.
J: Now all the suspense is gone.
D:Take a look ,there you go
J:There you go.
They show a clip from the film
D:It's a very nice film, Jake Gyllenhaal, and it opens tomorrow.
J:Tommorow
D:Well I hope it's a big big hit.
J:Thank you very much.
D:Nice meeting you
J:Very nice to meet you.
D: Say hello to Homer for me, will ya ?
J:I will

****End of Transcript****

INSTYLE MAGAZINE(March 1999 Issue)
The Scene +Heard, news to amuse:a star-studded review.

In Style:c'mon,tell us,what have you done that you will never do again ?
Jake Gyllenhaal:"There are three things that I'll never do again: eat Play Doh, run with scissors, and keep my ice cube collection in a shoe box."

PARADE, SUNDAY, APRIL 18, 1999
WALTER SCOTT'S PERSONALITY PARADE

Q: You recently compared Jake Gyllenhaal (October Sky) to Leonardo DiCaprio in the acting/charisma category. You didn't mention the chasing-girls category. How does he stack up to Leo in that? ---Michael McGrath, Boston, Mass.

A: He doesn't come close. Baby-faced Jake, 18, is too busy studying poetry and modern literature as a Columbia U. freshman in New York and juggling the acting offers that come his way. While Leo, 23, makes headlines with his bad behavior, Jake sprinkles his conversation with lines like: "If you lose track of why you're doing something, you lose track of yourself." For these reasons, were betting Gyllenhaal (pronounced JILL-in-haul, Swedish for "golden hall") won't lose himself in the mindless world of models and trendy clubs. Incidentally, last month one of the tabloids hinted of a romance between Jake and Chelsea Clinton, 19, now a sophomore at Stanford. We wondered how romantic they could be, 3000 miles apart, but asked anyhow. Jake's publicist told us the two have indeed known each other for years but are "just friends."

ENTERTAINMENT ASYLUM

OnlineHost: We are talking today with Jake Gyllenhaal, the star of the new film "October Sky."

Question: I would like to know what you like about being an actor?

Jake Gyllenhaal: I think the thing that most interests me is the possibilities to be able to portray somebody else who actually isn't, as a real person. The opportunity, I guess. I've never been asked a question like that before.

Question: How did you like Knoxville?

Jake Gyllenhaal: It was great. The people there are wonderful. Everyone there was just great to us and it's such a beautiful place.

Question: Mr. Gyllenhaal, do you think that going to the Center for Early Education (CEE) scarred, or helped you more as you grew up?

Jake Gyllenhaal: LOL Scarred? No, it did not scar me at all; in fact it was a tremendous influence on me, not only academically but also creatively. They emphasize creativity for young kids. It was a wonderful experience all around.

Question: Was it fun making "October Sky"? Were the others fun to work with? I think it looks great!

Jake Gyllenhaal: Well, it looks wonderful. It's a wonderful story. Just working with artists of that caliber is incredible. I've never played a part that big and you're the center of everything in some ways. It's nice to meet everyone separately and working with everyone has just been a great experience. Actors like Laura Dern, there's no one like them, and they are so talented.

Question: I was wondering about the character you portrayed in the movie. Would he by any chance be the same Hickam that the air base in Hawaii is named after?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Whoa, uh, not that I... I don't think that is the same air base, but then again, I'm not so sure. And most likely if it was named after him, I probably wouldn't know.

Question: Have you ever wanted to be an astronaut?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Wow, yeah, definitely. It was around the same period when I wanted to be a fireman or a policeman, and it sort of died for me at the age of twelve. But yeah, everyone kind of has a dream to go up into space. It's one of those generic dreams, I guess.

Question: How did you get into acting?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Well, I'd grown up in a family of filmmakers. My mother is a screenwriter and my father is a film director and in fact, my sister is an actor, so I've been surrounded by the business my whole life. And it's less than an inspiration from when you're younger, that unexplainable feeling you get. There's nothing that feels like being on stage and acting. But then again having a family in the business sort of pushed it over the edge. Watching actors like Deborah Winger and Robin Williams and Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke, where you can't do anything but be in awe.

Question: Do you ever think of coming back to Los Angeles to do a gig at the Whiskey A-Go-Go?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Yeah, of course. I'd love to. It was wonderful when I played there before and hopefully I'll do it again. Right now I'm playing by myself and I'd have to get some other musicians to play with me to do something like that, but it would be wonderful if we could.

Question: My husband was Sherman O'Dell in the movie and Jake, you met my two daughters last night in Knoxville.... My husband was the only Rocket Boy who has passed away. Do you remember meeting my daughters last night?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Yes, of course I do. I even remember signing their books. Is that proof that I remember meeting your daughters? I'm sorry that there was such hoopla. It was crazy last night.

Question: Jake, what advice would you give someone who wants to become an actor?

Jake Gyllenhaal: I'd say don't listen to what anybody says except for the people who encourage you. Know that it is a painful and a rough process but, if you know that it's what you want to do and it's within yourself, then keep going and try to do it for the rest of your life. Even if you're in the most obscure town in the world and you're just doing it in front of two people, it's just as important as if you're doing it on Broadway in front of a big crowd. And if you can do it in front of those two people then keep doing it for the rest of your life.

Question: Did you have any interesting experiences while hanging out with the other Rocket Boys?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Yeah, actually, in fact, the day before we started shooting, we decided we would all go into the back woods of Tennessee and fool around. In fact, we went to a national park and went to the wrong area of the park and were asked to leave by one of the park rangers because we were screwing around. Our reactions fit the characters from the movie. Roy Lee, who was the Elvis, dealt with it by trying to sweet talk the ranger. The guy who plays Sherman was freaking out, and I just sort of played the good guy. That was sort of obscure.

Question: Jake, I saw the movie at sneak preview and I loved it, what, if one thing would you want movie goers to walk away from the movie with?

Jake Gyllenhaal: I think that I'd like for them to walk away with the metaphor for what that movie is about, and that's the metaphor, the rocket as the metaphor for the dream, and that with passion and perseverance, someone can light their own metaphoric rocket and shoot it to the sky regardless of their context or the conflict and the criticism they get from other people. And, for me, the story is less about the literal [story] of the rocket as much as it is about the metaphor of a dream.

Question: Hi, Jake! What is the toughest role you've ever had to play, in theater or on television?

Jake Gyllenhaal: That's a hard one to answer. They're all tough. I think that if you put your heart into every one of them, you can't really differentiate. But, I have to say because the movie was shot out of sequence, I'd have to say this movie, because it took a lot out of me as an actor, challenged me in a lot of ways I hadn't been challenged before. Then again, I could say there were parts in the theater that were challenging because you're in front of people live and mistakes can't be made. Who knows? Right now I'd say my part in ?October Sky.?

Question: Jake... looks like in the movie you work closely with rockets and engines... what did you do to prepare for this part... speak to engineers?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Homer is the engineer that I spoke to and bounced questions off all the time. And he helped me with scenes where there were a lot of technical phrases, and he helped me understand the logic behind everything. For me, in developing the part, it was more important for me to get who the young boy Homer was, rather than the scientist. Homer was never really good at math in the beginning, which kind of helped me, because I'm not good at it either -- I sort of suck at math.

Question: Do you think that your part as pharaoh was your lead to stardom?

Jake Gyllenhaal: LOL It was definitely a highlight of my very short career! LOL

Question: Hi, I'm a kid critic for the Joliet Herald newspaper in Illinois, and I'm reviewing your movie this week! I was wondering what your favorite parts of ?October Sky? are?

Jake Gyllenhaal: I really loved the scene between Natalie Canterday and Chris Cooper where she tells him that she'll leave him. I believe that scene is brilliantly acted between the two of them and always makes me smile, makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me everything, every time I see it. I also really liked the montage of exploding rockets. I hate everything with myself! LOL

Question: Did you have to practice your Southern drawl a lot?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Not anymore. But, in fact, it wasn't practiced. It's actually sort of a staple accent I've had in my metaphoric box of accents and I took it out and toned it to the colloquialisms of the West Virginia area. So I used it for that time but I don't use it anymore. Except when I want to impress a Southerner.

Question: What did you like best about the script? What attracted you to this picture, and who do you see as the "target audience"?

Jake Gyllenhaal: I think what I liked about the script the most, like I said before, it was the metaphor of the dream and no matter how isolated someone is, they can fulfill their dream with passion and perseverance. And also what I wanted to play because this character has such a range of emotions and it really fascinated and interested me, and it's such the opposite of who I am as a person. And it intrigued me. I think the target audience is hopefully everybody. I don't think it's the kind of movie that's targeted to one specific audience, it can touch people of all ages.

Question: What did you like best about being on ?Rosie O'Donnell? today?

Jake Gyllenhaal: The fact that I wasn't on it.

OnlineHost: What was it like to work with Billy Crystal in ?City Slickers??

Jake Gyllenhaal: It was incredible. I was in 5th grade at the time and I was dumbfounded the whole time by the romanticism of what I believed the movie making process to be. And he is the funniest guy you could ever meet and work with. He's equal to Robin Williams, who I worked with after I worked with Billy.

Question: I thought you were great in ?October Sky.? I wanted to know... what kind of music are you into? If you weren't an actor, what would you be?

Jake Gyllenhaal: I would be dead if I wasn't an actor. But I really like Bela Fleck. I really like the soundtrack to ?Rushmore.? That's great. My friend is actually in that movie... and I like the new Beck album.

Question: How do you feel about being called the next Leonardo DiCaprio?

Jake Gyllenhaal: I am extremely flattered to be even mentioned in the same sentence as him. I think he is a wonderful actor and has made wonderful career choices. It's really strange when someone names you the next something because it automatically identifies you as a separate human being, but it's amazing.

Question: Do you plan to continue your academic pursuits as well as your acting?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Yes. I think that it's important for every actor to have an academic background. It's so important to be able to interpret text and understand the great works of those who have come before you. I hope to finish college and learn more.

Question: I thought you were Anders' kid!! Any chance of being directed by your father?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Of course, I'm directed by my dad all the time in every audition I've ever done. Even the one for ?October Sky.? He's been a constant aid and support in my entire life and I hope I'll be lucky enough to work with him again, that is if he asks me.

OnlineHost: Are you single and what do you look for in a girlfriend?

Jake Gyllenhaal: Yes, I'm single. Oh God, someone who's witty, someone who challenges me, kicks my butt sometimes. And someone who respects my life and my work and who I respect in the same way. When it happens, it happens, and I'll probably be blown away by who the person is anyway.

OnlineHost: Thank you for joining us.

Jake Gyllenhaal: I hope everyone goes and sees this movie. It's a wonderful story about a wonderful human being, and I worked with some great people, and I'm flattered to be a part of it, and I hope that I can share it with everyone. It's rated PG so you can take everyone to go and see it! No sex or drugs, but a little bit of rock and roll!

Portions of this transcript may be edited by AOL to correct spelling, punctuation and/or remove any material that violates AOL's Terms of Service.

(c) 1999, Entertainment Asylum & America Online, Inc.

TEEN PEOPLE September 1999 Issue Pg 140

JAKE GYLLENHAAL, Columbia
What a Freshman year ! In February, Jake, 18, found a strech limo outside his NYC dorm, waiting to take him to the premiere of his movie OCTOBER SKY. He also studied Buddhism under Uma Thurman's professor dad.

Expression Interview : November 26, 1999

Here is a rough translation of an exclusive interview with Jake in one of the biggest newspapers in
Sweden, EXPRESSEN, on the day the film had it première in Stockholm.Friday, November 26,
1999:

Headline:

Jake Gyllenhaal about
Chelsea Clinton:
"We are just friends"

NEW YORK. Jake Gyllenhaal, the young star of the film "October Sky", has his roots in Sweden.
But his knowledge of Sweden turned out to be meager. The knowledge of Chelsea Clinton is so
much the better.

There is hardly any American who can pronounce the name of the actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Any such
problems he supposedly will not have when his film "October Sky" comes to the Swedish cinemas.
The family Gyllenhaal is Swedish. But Jake Gyllenhaal does not speak a word Swedish and he has
never visited his land of his forefathers.
- But I do drive a Volvo 240 anyhow, he says when we meet in a restaurant in New York.
He knows that his family comes from Sweden. There are about 50 Gyllenhaals in the USA, and they
all come from Anders Leopold /Leonard!/ Gyllenhaal who emigrated to the USA in 1866.

Film family
The 18-year old Jake has grown up in a real film family. Father Stephen is a film director, mother
Naomi is a scriptwriter and Sister Maggie is an actress too.
It was Joe Johnstons' edifying film "October Sky" which came to be young Jake's big breakthrough.
The film is based upon the NASA-engineer Homer Hickams autobiography. He grew up in a little
mining community in West Virginia in the 50's and the film gives an account of his and some friends'
struggle to realize their dreams and build a rocket.

Chelsea's friend
The film has given Jake a first taste of being a celebrity. He was for instance pointed out as the new
boy friend of Chelsea Clinton in the spring.
- I laughed when I read that. It is true that Chelsea and I are good friends. Our families both have
their summerhouses in Martha's Vineyard and we are a group of young ones who use to be together
there.
- The two of us are probably closer together than our families, but we are only friends.
Chelsea studies at Stanford in California and Jake Gyllenhaal is a student of Columbia University in
New York. They try to keep contact even then.
- It has happened that we phone one other, he says and smiles.

Mats Larsson"

"Caption underneath a picture of Jake on a street in NYC:

NO EXPERT ON SWEDEN The actor Jake Gyllenhaal's knowledge of Sweden is limited.
However he did know that the Cardigans are Swedish and that the actor Pernilla August is playing
the mother of Anakin Skywalker. But he believed that Audi was a Swedish car, and was unsure
about the capital."

INTERVIEW LINKS

Jake Sound Bites

First Three Transcripts from Jake sound bites.

Section 1: How he could relate to his character
Jake: It's really hard when I think you are trying to portray a story that is so special...and something that happened in real life with it's ambiguity and its um...and it's irony, and put that onto...into a character. And yes, there were times when we were shooting that...I would come up to him and say, "Homer, I'm a little confused at this point. I really want to know what you were feeling." Because when his friend dies in the movie--I don't want to give that away! (laughs) No, I won't say who, because that's the mystery of it all! But when a close friend of his dies in the movie (hesitates) I wanted to know what was really going on and I came up to him and said--you know, and he was there almost every other week..and I'd come up to him every once in a while and ask him questions..and at that point I said...because I knew what it was like for me...I could relate my situation..but I felt like I needed to do service to that situation...and so there were moments like that, where I would come up to him and ask him...make him specify it for me..so..(fade out)

Section 2: Working with great actors in October Sky
Jake: I think especially in this movie working with Laura Dern and Chris Cooper, when you work with people like that you get something from it. It's like a perpetual learning experience. It's like playing with a pro tennis player and they hit a ball and they hit a ball so hard and you just put up the racket up and you hit it back to them with so much force even though you don't do that much. Working with Chris Cooper there was that teaching. We would finish a scene and he always told me never have any regrets. We'd go through the first couple of takes of the scene and he'd come up and talk to me and told me" I don't think your listening to me " I said -"ok". I think that's the essence of acting really is listening, and I think being young and nieve and green and all that stuff, you are not going to be able to do that all the time. I think regardless of age and experience, no one can do that all the time. So he would guide me through that. (fade out)

Section 3: He's focusing on school more than acting
Jake: This past year I'm sort of focusing on school more. And the movie itself and it's emphasis on the importance of school. It made me want to go back. And I think it's so important to get an education, so to inform your work, and interpret the text so you can understand the subtext and the underline meaning of the text.......you know....I just believe that it's so important. At the same time focusing on school, not trying to be pulled in by my passion....I mean it's really hard to be sitting here and doing this and be talking about something you love more than anything in your life and also knowing.....AND I love school so much...and know that I need that so that hopefully I can...again hopefully...have a good career. (fade out)

Great Interview

October Sky Premire

News Week Interview

Extra TV Link

Jake is listed as one of the hot guys

Young Male Stars Home Page : Up and Coming

Filmscouts Link

Filmscouts Interview with Jake Gyllenhaal

It will download, you'll get the whole thing soon enough (laugh). That's my message for you. I've been having a little trouble downloading lately. (Is that right?) Maybe it's because I'm not on a, on a network, I'm on AOL, so I'm not, when I'm at school it's easier. It's faster. There are things that I hope an then there are things that people will say to me or whatever. I don't really know. I, I don't really know how they'll react or what people will say. I think that there's especially being at Columbia, there are people with special skills and special talents all over the place, so it's not like, it's, like, that abnormal to have somebody be doing something like this. There are people who've, like, written novels already and they're freshmen, you know? There are people who, like, know how to take apart a computer and put it back together again. And I, I mean things I would never, could never do and never think of doing and they're doing it. So, I would hope that they knew that I had, they should have the same respect for me as I have for them and it's exactly the same. I think that underneath the, the mathematics of, of a, a situation and equation, there's a logic to it that, that can shu- shine through. And especially the equations that he works with, things like s=at squared and those types of things. There, uh, if you draw it out, it makes sense and that's sort of how I, how I did it. I'm sort of more of a logical english guy so I, I do with words a little better than I do with numbers, but that's how I that's how I, you know, drew, drew simliarities between the two of them.

Transcribed by Elyse

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A web page by Misty contributions: Images: universal pictures copy right 1999. all rights reserved. Interviews: copy right 1999. all rights reserved. AZ republic, KTVK, Parade magazine, CBS, In Style magazine, hollywood.com, entertainment asylum. This page does Not mean to violate any copy rights, it is just for the enjoyment of Jake's fans. If you want the credits on this page changed please Email me