Holy Crap Jake Gyllenhaal Is Jacked In This First Image From ‘Southpaw’

Jake Gyllenhaal lost 25 pounds in order to prepare for the role of creepy nocturnal news stringer Lou Bloom in his most recent film Nightcrawler. His next role found the actor packing 15 pounds of pure muscle onto that scrawny frame to star as Junior Middleweight Champion Billy “The Great” Hope in the Kurt Sutter-penned, Antoine Fuqua-directed Southpaw. From Deadline:

“I’m so pumped, man,” Fuqua said. “Jake is going to change how people see him. I had him training twice a day in the boxing ring, he did two-a-days seven days a week. I pretty much had him with me and my trainer every day. I took him to almost every fight. I had him train at Floyd Mayweather’s gym in Vegas and we watched Floyd’s fights, and the Manny Pacquiao fight. He trained in New York at Church Gym with real fighters. We literally turned him into a beast… Jake, my god, he’s a very electric, powerful fighter in this movie, and a guy who fights for his daughter. I’m confident that this will change how people see Jake, as a leading man. (Via)

This extreme weight loss/gain is reminiscent of the transformation Matthew McConaughey went through as he moved from Magic Mike to Dallas Buyers Club and True Detective. Gyllenhaal has already proven he can tackle a variety of roles that carry with them different physiques and I’m sure this movie will punch audiences straight in the neck for 90 minutes. That’d be fantastic and all, but am I the only one still holding out hope for a Bubble Boy sequel? Probably.

(Source: Deadline)