Jake Gyllenhaal Details How Road House Remake Fights With Conor McGregor Got Too Real

Road House star Jake Gyllenhaal breaks down the creation of his fight scenes with Conor McGregor. Released directly to Prime Video, the movie follows an ex-UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to be caught up in conflict with a local criminal organization. The movie is a remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze classic, and Gyllenhaal played the lead role of Elwood Dalton, alongside McGregor, who appears in his acting debut.

Speaking to Decider about his experiences on the movie, and what it was like filming Road House‘s fight scenes with McGregor, Gyllenhaal discussed how the Irishman’s experience made the accuracy of the fight scenes much more prominent, and how director Doug Liman’s desire for realism made these scenes more intense. The Oscar nominee, in particular, detailed how the fight scenes got a little too real on certain occasions as the two got real hits on each other, though were simply mistakes. Check out Gyllenhaal’s comments below:

Well, that’s inevitable. Yeah, I mean, and there was a moment — at one point, [Conor’s] talking to me by the monitor — and we shot a lot of these fights at night. Inevitably, it’s late, and we’re all talking, we’re all kind of delirious, and he’s like, [imitates Irish accent] “Okay, so when you throw that left, make sure you come at me real hard with that right!” And he just pow, by mistake, hit me in the face! For all this time, shooting all these takes where we were not hitting each other at all. He was like, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” That was the one time.

Then the other time, I have to hit him with a door over and over again. But it was all a matter of measurement — inches. Sometimes he’d move his face, and I hit him on the eye, actually, on the side of his eye. He got a black eye from that. But, generally, given the amount of fighting we did on this movie, I’m surprised that we didn’t actually make contact more often. The irony is you’re working with a professional fighter, and their measurement of distance is wholly different than anybody who’s a non-professional. It’s advantageous, because he knows the difference in millimeters of how to make it look real and not [actually hit you.]

How Does The Road House Remake Compare To The Original Movie?

In many ways, the Road House remake surpasses the original, with things such as the stunning locations, the whip-smart script, and Dalton’s backstory being improvements on the original. Another area in which the remake is superior to the ’80s classic is with the fight scenes, for which Gyllenhaal had training for several months with a professional fighter, as well as a nutritionist, to help him prepare for the role. However, no matter how much training goes into movie fight scenes, there are always going to be missteps and unexpected blows that actors will have to contend with.

Observing the ways in which actors approach roles is very interesting, and Gyllenhaal’s comments show that there were a lot of elements in scenes that were not planned. When it comes to fight scenes, the actors involved can often wind up with a few unexpected hits. From a filmmaking perspective, this definitely leads to a more realistic-looking movie, and will have raised the stakes for fight scenes between Gyllenhaal and McGregor. What’s more, the use of real UFC fighters and pundits in Road House will have helped build a more authentic-looking film, which is essential for an action movie.

Shooting a movie like Road House will have been very physically intensive, especially with McGregor appearing in his first-ever leading role, and Gyllenhaal’s comments perfectly encapsulate why it is so important to have strong choreography for action sequences. The arduous physical exertion involved in filming and developing the perfect movie makes a big difference to the mise en sen, and will no doubt have played a key role in helping to set Road House apart and make it stand out from other action movies of the era.

Road House is now streaming on Prime Video.

Source: Decider

Road House (2024)

Road House is a remake of the original 1989 film, which followed protagonist Dalton, a Ph.D. educated bouncer at the roughest bar in the south known as the Double Deuce. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Dalton, with two major changes including Dalton being a retired UFC fighter and the bar locale being in the Florida Keys.

Director

Doug Liman

Release Date

March 21, 2024

Studio(s)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , Silver Pictures

Distributor(s)

Prime Video

Writers

Anthony Bagarozzi , Charles Mondry , David Lee Henry

Cast

Jake Gyllenhaal , Daniela Melchior , Billy Magnussen , Jessica Williams , Joaquim De Almeida , Conor McGregor , Lukas Gage , Arturo Castro , B.K. Cannon , Beau Knapp , Darren Barnet , Dominique Columbus , Bob Menery