Jake Gyllenhaal (who these days appears to be rocking a rather bushy hobo beard) says he was dumb to allow police to taser him with a taser gun in preparation for a role (duh?). Jake, who undertook intensive training for the part including patrolling the streets of South Central Los Angeles with local police, was offered to be tasered and he accepted, something he now regrets:
“The police offered us the chance to either be pepper sprayed or Tasered. We are actors and not the sharpest tools in the shed so we decided to go for quick and painful rather than long and painful.”
Jake says that the police told him they would taser him for just 5 seconds, but it felt like an eternity for him and he believes that although he always will remember the pain, he does think it benefited the film greatly because it brings a sense of realism to his part:
“I was an idiot and there was no logical explanation why we did it but I think experiencing things does influence the realism in the movie. It felt terrible. They said they would do it for five seconds and I was screaming like a child pretty quickly. It felt like it was forever and it lasted a second and a half!”
