Jake Gyllenhaal appreciated Christoper Nolan and Baz Luhrmann phoning him personally to say why he didn't land roles in their movies.
Jake Gyllenhaal got personal calls from two directors after losing out on huge roles
The 'Road House' star was gutted to lose out on the titular role in 2005's 'Batman Begins', which went to Christian Bale, and Christian (Ewan McGregor) in the latter's 2001 jukebox musical 'Moulin Rouge!', which the late Heath Ledger was also considered for.
Despite his disappointment, he praised both filmmakers for explaining the reasoning behind their decision to pick another actor.
He told 'The Howard Stern Show': “What I felt was disappointment when I didn’t get it. Both Heath and I were disappointed.
“But that’s Ewan McGregor’s part. You learn to go, ‘There’s another one. I can try and go in and audition for another one. I’ll get something else.’ You keep that attitude.”
He added: “To [Nolan’s] credit and to Baz [Luhrmann’s] credit, both of those directors called me personally to tell me [I didn’t get the role].
“And they will tell you why.”
He continued: “When you get that far, there’s a real legitimacy to you potentially getting something. It’s not like they’re going, ‘Oh, thanks so much.’ They are going, ‘I saw these aspects of you that I really wanted in the role and are wonderful, but in the end, I ended up moving this way because it matches better with this person who is opposite you or would be opposite you. The colour of their hair or their height, whatever it is!! There are all these non-factors that really are the inexplicable stuff that if you start to pick away at it doesn’t work, it’s not healthy.”
Tagged in Baz Luhrmann Heath Ledger Jake Gyllenhaal