Southpaw actor Jake Gyllenhaal may have been spotted in Abu Dhabi today. One of The National’s news reporters received a call from her mother at midday with the news that Gyllenhaal and an accompanying film crew was seen in and around the St. Regis Abu Dhabi hotel on the Corniche. When asked to verify the rumour, a hotel staff member said “we have nothing to confirm.” While we, as of yet, couldn’t confirm Gyllenhaal’s presence in the capital we find the possibility not too far off. Here are three reasons why the actor could very well have been in the UAE.
He is owed a holiday
Gyllenhaal is currently enjoying a hot streak that includes End of Watch, Prisoners, Nightcrawler, Southpaw, Everest (currently showing in UAE cinemas) and Demolition, which opened the Toronto International Film Festival last month. Next up for him are Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals and Antoine Fuqua's The Man Who Made It Snow. He is also in discussion to film Okja which will mark Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho second English-language film. He is also in talks to play the lead role in Stronger, about the experiences of Boston Marathon survivor Jeff Bauman. For someone that busy, a break in sunny Abu Dhabi could do the trick.
However, he was spotted with a film crew, so maybe he’s working, not vacationing.
Abu Dhabi is fast becoming a favourite location for filmmakers, with Brad Pitt slated to arrive any day now to begin filming War Machine. Perhaps Gyllenhaal was scouting locations with a camera in tow.
He has a break in his current schedule
He’s not meant to be anywhere in particular. He’s not attending a film premiere or a film festival, and there are no confirmed reports of him being on a film set at the moment. He could very well be anywhere in the world, so why not Abu Dhabi?
So, was Gyllenhaal in town, and did we miss spotting him despite our best efforts? Or had our reporter’s mother spotted a lookalike? If you’ve spotted the tall, hunky actor anywhere around town, don’t hesitate at all to let us know. We may kick ourselves for missing out on a selfie with him, but we’d love to get to the bottom of this, regardless.
artslife@thenational.ae
