Demolition stars Jake Gyllenhaal. The KCET Cinema Series continued at ArcLight Cinemas Sherman Oaks on Tuesday, April 5, with Demolition. Jake Gyllenhaal plays an investment banker whose life takes a dramatic turn after the death of his wife. In the process, he develops a friendship with a customer service rep (Naomi Watts) and her rebellious, teenage son, played by Judah Lewis in his film debut.
Lewis was on hand for a Q&A session following the film. Joining him were screenwriter/co-producer Bryan Sipe and director/producer Jean-Marc Vall e (Dallas Buyers Club). Pete Hammond, host of the KCET Cinema Series and awards editor/columnist for Deadline Hollywood, led the panel discussion.
The spring KCET Cinema Series is sponsored by E. Hofert Dailey Trust and gives audiences the chance to see new indie films and informative discussions. The eight-week series ends on April 12 with a screening of The Meddler from Sony Pictures Classics.
Director Jean-Marc Vall e on what drew him to the script for Demolition.
Thanks to this guy [Bryan Sipe], who had the courage to write something so unique and special and something so personal. Its funny how I describe it. I like to say its a script that had a rock n roll sensibility. When I read it first, it touched me deeply in a very funny way because I laughed out loud. I didnt know where it was going and, at the end, I was crying like a baby and I didnt understand why. I read it again and the same thing happened -- laughed out loud and I cried. I was laughing and crying.
Its funny now, in life, its when I cry -- when I watch films or read a great book. Its rare, in life, that I cry, although it happens. Normally, its because its sad. At the end, I was like, this is not sad. I was crying because it was beautiful and because of the whole journey. Also, I was picturing myself. I got to direct this thing.This is so rare. This is a celebration of cinema. Im saying rock n roll because Demolition is such a title and the theme, it makes noise. Rock n roll is to use loud instruments to make noise and tell your parents that you want to do it your own way, tell the establishment youre going to do it your own way. Its funny how it had this vibe.
Bryan Sipe on his real life inspiration for the film.
This is work that I did when I was a younger man, 17 until I was probably 20, 21, years old. I was swinging a sledgehammer, working for my father, tearing down houses. That was the genesis of this story.
Two things happened, I learned that to figure out how something is put together, youve got to tear it all apart because I dont have a mechanical mind. I dont really understand construction. I dont understand engines, but I could tear walls down and I could smash things. There was something cathartic about that, at first, anyway. And then, what happens after a while is that feeling goes away and then youre just in this dark, dismal, shallow home, what used to be someones home, thinking when am I ever going to get out of here? That was my experience doing that.
Finally, I did get out of there and I moved out here, but I had a very similar experience half a dozen years later when I wasnt where I wanted to be out here. I came out pretty confident that I had stories to tell and people were going to listen to those stories and I was going to have no problem making it in this business, but this business had other things in mind for me.
I wrote some very mediocre to bad scripts. That was really for them. These were the scripts that everybody said were going to sell. This is house money. I never found the house money. I found myself in a place that was very reminiscent of those days when I was doing construction, standing around in these burned out houses surrounded by debris and crawling around on the nails that are going through my feet and inhaling insulation. I stopped caring. I stopped caring about what I was doing out here. I stopped caring about the stuff that hes so passionate about, about art, about music, about reading. I just didnt care anymore and that was where this voice came from. It started very quietly and the more I listened to it, the louder it got. Then I sat down with it and let him go where he wanted to go and this is the journey that he took me on.
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Bryan Sipe and Jean-Marc Vall e on Demolition star Jake Gyllenhaal.
BS: Jake was probably 14 years old when I started writing this.
It was 10 years in the making.
JMV: We sent it to a lot of actors, all the A-list actors, because we were looking for money. Thats the way it works. You find an actor that is on top right there and we send it to all of them. There were seven, eight of them on top there and Jake is just the one that responded viscerally and passionately, just the way I did and we did. He went, I want to do this badly. I remember the first conversation. I remember when Brian and I were looking for actors and we were looking for actors and Brian said, look at this face, this guy could be a really good Davis Mitchell.
BS: What I thought was interesting was that he hadnt done anything like this. Jake has played these -- his career has really had a resurgence and what I think everybody saw that he was on the rise and hitting his stride again, he did End of Watch. He did Prisoners.
Pete Hammond: Nightcrawler.
BS: Intense cops and this mutant night crawler and a pugilist. Were looking at his picture going, this is so interesting because this is just a man and he hasnt really done that, but hes responding to this material and we really wanted to see him do it and were pretty confident that he could. He proved us right.
Pete Hammond discusses Demolition with writer Bryan Sipe, director Jean-Marc Vall e and actor Judah Lewis. | Photo: Liz Ohanesian.
Judah Lewis on how he landed the role of Chris in Demolition.
JL: I originally self-taped, actually, interestingly enou
