Jake Gyllenhaal and Antoine Fuqua Open Up About The Guilty's' Many Unique Challenges

29/09/2021

Back to All News

Jake Gyllenhaal and Antoine Fuqua Open Up About The Guilty's' Many Unique Challenges

Netflix Staff

Entertainment

29 September 2021

GlobalUnited States

Six years after the boxing drama Southpaw, actor Jake Gyllenhaal and director Antoine Fuqua reunite for the new Netflix thriller The Guilty. Based on the 2018 Danish film of the same name, Gyllenhaal stars as a troubled police detective who is demoted to 911 operator duty and scrambles to save a distressed caller during a harrowing day of revelations - and reckonings. Because of the unique premise - with many dramatic scenes taking place with Gyllenhaal on the phone - the entire shoot only required 11 days and three on-screen cast members, including Gyllenhaal, who also produced the film with Fuqua. Ahead of The Guilty's Oct. 1 Netflix release, the duo discussed what brought them to the project, their behind-the-scenes research and the film's many unique challenges.

How did each of you get involved with the film?

ANTOINE FUQUA: I got a phone call from my friend Jake, and he said he had a script that he thought I was perfect for. I read it that night and called him, I think, the next day and said, Im in. Obviously, to work with Jake again was a big plus. I love the guy, and the subject matter was as perfect as he said it would be for me.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL: Antoine and I share something really special, sort of indescribable. We have an instinct together when theres a piece of material. There was something I felt I understood about The Guilty, something underneath that I always related to very deeply, it thrilled me and inspired me. And so, it was a no-brainer and also no surprise that Antoine committed as quickly as I did. He was the only other person besides me, who, as soon as he read the story, was like, Im in. Thats how I felt too. And that bond that we have, thats hard to put into words, comes through in the film. Its so wonderful being able to work with someone more than once and know that you trust them already, to know that theyll go as far as youll go and vice versa.

What kind of research did you do for the film?

FUQUA: Myself and Jake both have friends in this world that weve known for a long time, and what I needed to do was go to a 911 call center, so I went to one in West Valley and the captain there Dave Storaker he helped us a lot. He walked us through the call center and introduced us to some of the people, and gave us some insights on what they go through daily on a personal level, and a lot of technical things, obviously, we needed to learn about the headsets and how it works.

What was most striking was just the human connection when you go to a place like that and you see people that look like your mom, or your brother, or your cousin - and youre not just a voice on the phone- who had to live with someone elses trauma every day, listen to people calling obviously, on the worst day of their lives. And the people that they call at the 911 center take on that stress as well.

What were some of the unique challenges that you had to work through in the film from working in one location, working with the actors that Jake speaks to on the phone?

FUQUA: It is a film about sound, about listening, about what you hear, and what the reality is. Capturing that is a whole other story, practically, because at that time we were filming, it was during the height of COVID, so we couldnt have actors going to a regular stage and record, so we had to come up with a system with our sound guy on how to get these special boxes to actors who were all over the world, and then get their recording, but then do it live with Jake while hes in a room performing, without any glitches.

Well, that didnt happen at all. I think he had about five or six different voices in his ear at the same time because of the technical issues. We had to work off of the Zoom system as well. We figured it out eventually. I think Jake had probably performed each scene like it was a play, constantly, over and over and over, because the calls were coming back-to-back. Theres not a lot of cuts in between each call, so we had to almost do the entire script, in certain sections, as a play, with voices in his ear. It was challenging but it was amazing because of what happens naturally: it makes you lean in more because it was so difficult to hear. We use a lot of the dialogue from the first Zoom calls, cause the performances are just so raw, and, and a lot of Jakes performance was so intense.

GYLLENHAAL: When I first sent the script to Antoine, what I said was, Lets shoot this movie in five days. That really got us going excited, the idea that we could shoot the movie in a very short period of time, the pressure would be on, just like its on Joe Baylors character. And if theres anything I know about Antoine, he loves that pressure, and we both thrive in that space.

So, we set this goal for ourselves, and slowly, that 5 days turned into 11 days. So we shot the movie and scheduled it for 11 days, and we designed this idea that we break it up into five sections and each one would be around 15 to 20 pages, and wed shoot one of those sections every day. So, I would prepare Section 1, 2, 3, 4, and I would call Antoine as a secret and Id say, I have 1 to 4 memorized. He said, Dont tell anybody. We still have 11 days. Maybe we can shoot it in 9.

The Guilty is available to stream Oct. 1 on Netflix.

LINK:	https://about.netflix.com/en/news/jake-gyllenhaal-and-antoine-fuqua-op...
	See more stories from netflix

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026