As opposites go, you’d be hard pushed finding two people more different than Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway). He’s a smooth-talking pharmaceutical sales rep and she’s a no-nonsense free spirit suffering from early onset Parkinson’s disease – but it’s no doubt because of their differences that sparks fly as soon as Jamie and Maggie meet. In romantic drama Love & Other Drugs, Jamie and Maggie explore what happens when their initial connection turns into something deeper – can they make the transition from lovers to partners?
When you first saw the script for Love & Other Drugs, did it excite you?
Jake: When I first read the script, I was so moved by it. From the first 10 pages, I loved the character. I thought he was gross and charismatic and wonderful, and then I was crying by the end of it. Ed Zwick, the director, wasn’t really thinking of me for the role. I had to go to him and convince him that he had actually written the part for me and he didn’t know it. And so I did it - I sold myself to Ed and convinced him and he cast me. Then, we went and begged Annie to be in it with us.
Did it take much begging?
Anne: A little bit.
Jake: Like with any wonderful woman, it took a good amount of begging.
What is your favourite scene in the movie?
Jake: I loved shooting every scene in this movie, I really did. It’s one of those rare experiences. But I loved shooting the scene where Jamie says “I love you” to Maggie. I just thought that was a wonderful moment. We could have interpreted it in many ways and we decided to go down one path with it, which was that my character would have an anxiety attack. I think we found the humour in it and that was a really fun thing to do.
Anne: And it was fun for me too. My favourite scene… I’m a big fan of scenes where I pretend to be asleep, so I loved the last scene, except it was a motion controlled shot and each take took about half an hour to set up and in between I just thought, “You know what, I’m in a bed, I might as well not get up, I’ll just kind of sit here” - and I actually did fall asleep. I didn’t realise that we’d started to shoot and that take did not wind up in the movie because it was a natural real wake-up where you go, “Aaah”. It was really surreal because I was actually lying in bed with Jake Gyllenhaal and I’d been doing that for weeks, but all of a sudden it felt really bizarre. So that’s probably my favourite scene because it required less energy.
Is it difficult spending 65 percent of screen time naked?
Anne: Are we at 65 percent? Did you do the math? I’ve done the nudity thing and I can tell you that the scariest part about doing nudity… there are two things. One is having to watch it with an audience. It just becomes a little surreal and I have to say not the most comfortable thing in the world. The second part about nudity is talking about it – that’s a little scary and all the attention it gets.
Is it easier to shoot sex scenes with someone you find attractive?
Jake: I think it is easier to work with someone that you find attractive. It’s always easier to work with things that are naturally occurring.
Anne: I’m just thinking about it – going back to the 65 percent statistic. I actually think that 65 to 75 percent of all my nude scenes have been with you, and you are very attractive so I guess I can safely say: “yes”.
This is the second movie you’ve shot together – is there anything you’ve learned about each other that’s shocked you?
Jake: One thing that shocked me about Annie is how observant she is of people’s behaviour, although I shouldn’t be shocked by that because she’s an actor and that’s primary to stuff that we deal in, but she said things sometimes about me that I am moved that she knows. We’ll text each other and she’ll say something to me and she knows that I feel this way about that and that to me is really nice.
Anne: You’re surprised that I listen?
Jake: It’s nice. As a person, it’s not just in a scene.
Anne: That’s nice – my answer was that Jake’s a barefoot runner. And then I guess it’s not a shocking thing about Jake necessarily, but I’m delighted every time by Jake’s goodness, Jake’s desire for people to do well, Jake’s generosity… the way he’ll put a film or someone’s performance before his own needs. And he does that on set and he does that in life and it’s an unusual thing to meet someone like that.
What did you find different about working together again?
Jake: I got to be into her this time. (laughs)
Anne: What else is there to say? It’s a wonderful thing – because Jake and I hadn’t seen each other in a few years. We’d run into each other at a few things and had a few really nice chats, but we hadn’t really connected since the whole Brokeback experience and it’s a wonderful thing when someone you really admire and respect, all of their good qualities stay in place and they have grown even more into themselves. That’s what I witnessed with Jake - he’s still the same person, he was just more grown up and his confidence had deepened. But all of the good things – how much fun we had together as people and as actors – was all still in place.
What research did you both do before filming?
Jake: My character in this movie obviously has a lot of sex, so I had to practise – that was very important. (laughs) You have to devote yourself to your character and do everything that you can – and I was totally devoted to research.
Anne: You’re a credit to your craft, Jake.
Jake: There are sacrifices that we all have to make and that had to be one of them.
With or without the need of the “other drugs”?
Jake: (laughs) I can safely say that I have never tried Viagra. Both Annie and I did a lot of genuine research for the characters and the context our characters are in. I met with as many pharmaceutical reps as I could. It was very hard to actually get into that world. I found it much more difficult even then when I played a CIA agent. I met many of them through my doctors and particularly the guy who wrote the book that this is loosely based on, Jamie Reidy, I spent hours upon hours with him listening to stories and even just stealing from his as a character – his rhythms, his personality, his interaction with people. The character is basically based on him.
Anne: Because I was playing a character with early onset Parkinson’s disease I obviously wanted to make sure I knew everything I could know about the illness and what it was like to have it, so I met with early onset Parkinson’s patients - people that were new with their diagnosis - and people that had been living with their diagnosis for 20 to 25 years. I asked them a lot about their experiences with their illness, with their medication and medical support. I met with support groups and neurologists – I tried to cover every base that I could. I was just blown away by people’s openness and their courage to share their stories with me and my entire performance is totally indebted to them. One man said something that really put the whole experience of having Parkinson’s into perspective for me. This man said, “I miss being able to crumple paper”. This man still runs marathons, but this option is no longer available to him – he can’t crumple paper. I just thought about Maggie who is 26 and has that future staring back at her, so I did a lot of work on the psychological effects of being sick and then read Michael J Fox’s books. Each of our research was pretty involved.
What does this movie say about pharmaceutical drug use generally?
Jake: I think what this movie says about the pharmaceutical world is that there is a benefit and also a business in pharmaceuticals, and the balance is always a difficult one. You also have that funny sequence with the homeless man – his whole life is changed by pharmaceuticals and I think it walks a line of making fun of and also praising and criticising the industry as I think any good movie does. But I also think they [the drug companies] have great responsibility and I think it’s strange that they’re dealing with people’s health and it is sales. But it’s really Ed’s movie and his comment, and whenever he has talked about the movie he has been highly critical of the pharmaceutical industry.
In what ways is love like a drug?
Anne: I think love is better than drugs. Even drugs at their best, there’s something inauthentic about them, and love is real. And when love is real, at least my experience with it, it makes you a better person – drugs just make you feel better.
Jake: I’ll go with that one too.
What wouldn’t you sacrifice for love?
Jake: I like meatloaf, so that says it all.
Anne: I think one of the things I love about the movie is that it really explores the idea that true love demands a lot of you. Outside of whether or not you’re dealing with an illness or abnormal stress that can weigh on a relationship, love requires you to become better and to go deeper. I think what the movie shows is that when those stresses arise – and in our characters’ case it’s a degenerative illness that raises the stakes - you must dig down deeper. I hope I’m the sort of person that would, but I have never been challenged in that way and I hope not to be. That’s pretty selfish but I hope I never do.
Love & Other Drugs is out on DVD/Blu-Ray from today.
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