Ambulance's Jake Gyllenhaal Has A Hilarious Michael Bay Impression
Ambulance star Jake Gyllenhaal reveals his hilarious Michael Bay impression while recalling how a crazy stunt sequence was shot for the film. The action-thriller marks the first time the Oscar-nominated star and Transformers director have collaborated on a project, coming together for the English-language adaptation of the 2005 Danish film of the same name. Ambulance revolves around two brothers who embark on a bank heist gone wrong and flee through Los Angeles in the hijacked titular vehicle with an EMT and injured police officer as their hostages.
Gyllenhaal leads the ensemble cast of Ambulance alongside Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O'Donnell, Jackson White, Olivia Stambouliah, Moses Ingram and Colin Woodell. Having made its premiere in France, the film is already scoring very strong reviews from critics for its explosive action sequences and Bay's stylish direction. As the film gears up for its American debut, one creative close to Ambulance is offering some funny insight into its production.
With just a few days remaining until the film's release, Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II sat down with Jimmy Kimmel Live to discuss Ambulance. In discussing the production of the action-heavy film, Gyllenhaal recalled one sequence in which two helicopters were to fly under a bridge chasing the titular vehicle with he and his co-star inside and shared his hilarious Michael Bay impression from when he asked the director how he pulled it off. See what Gyllenhaal shared and his funny impression below:
"It wasn't written in the script, but Michael Bay, we were both on our way -- we were driving, he was driving, I was very clear about that, he was driving the ambulance back to where we were gonna get into our civvies. And we get a call from Michael Bay, and he says, 'Actually, you know what? I've got the L.A. river open, drive back.' The actual L.A. river, he found a way into the L.A. river, and he said, 'Just meet us there, we're gonna shoot there.' So we drove under a bridge and he came to us, he was like, 'I got two helicopters, okay? Okay?' That's how he always [acts]. 'Okay? And we're gonna fly the two helicopters under the bridge, okay? So you just jump out of the thing, shoot at the helicopters, it's gonna be great.' I'm like, 'How the f-ck did you get two helicopters out of the middle of nowhere?' He's like, 'Don't ask questions, we're rolling!'"
Michael Bay is fairly infamous for his occasional rude or exaggerated presence on the sets of his films. On the commentary track for Armageddon, Ben Affleck memorably recalled a point in which he asked the filmmaker if it made more sense for the astronauts to be trained to become oil drillers rather than vice versa, to which Bay's response was telling the Oscar winner to "shut the f--k up." Unlike the 1998 sci-fi disaster pic, however, Bay's over-the-top response to Gyllenhaal asking a question on the set of Ambulance appears to be more of a moment of wrong timing on the actor's part rather than any poor intents on Bay's part, with Gyllenhaal's humorous impression of the director pointing towards a moment devoid of actual conflict between them.
All eyes have been on Ambulance since it was first announced to be in development in 2020 as Bay took to finding a way to bring his bombastic filmmaking style to COVID-based productions. Early reviews have pointed towards the film being a true return to form for Bay, sitting at a 72 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, his highest score ever and his first "Fresh" rating since 1996's The Rock. Only time will tell if it can maintain this score as Ambulance races to theaters on April 8.
Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live