- Title: Jake Gyllenhaal explores family dynamics, new terrains in 'Strange World'
- Date: 17th November 2022
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 17, 2022) (REUTERS) HALL AND NGUYEN SPEAKING WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, DON HALL AND WRITER AND CO-DIRECTOR, QUI NGUYEN, SAYING: HALL "I'm not sure if it's the first. I think Mbita, which was an episode of 'Baymax!' on Disney+ might have been the first but it's, you know, certainly a character we're very proud of
- Embargoed: 1st December 2022 20:53
- Keywords: Gabrielle Union Jaboukie Young-White Jake Gyllenhaal Strange World Strange World Disney Strange World film Strange World movie Strange World premiere
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: UK
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA005024217112022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Disney's new animated movie "Strange World" is an action adventure with identifiable family interactions at its heart, says its star Jake Gyllenhaal.
Gyllenhaal lends his voice to Searcher Clade, a farmer who has grown up in the shadow of his larger-than-life explorer father and forged a very different life for himself. An environmental emergency threatening his crops forces a Searcher, now a father himself, to embark on a mission in a faraway, strange world.
"The themes that resonated with me the most were really the issue of communication and family, how generations feel like they know better than the one before and the one after," Gyllenhaal, 41, told Reuters at the film's premiere in London.
"I feel like when we open ourselves up and are vulnerable, that we can actually learn from each other. I know it's a sort of simple idea, but within family it becomes very complex."
Searcher is joined on the journey by his adventure-yearning, gay teenage son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) and skilful pilot wife Meridian (Gabrielle Union).
"I think as a parent of an LGBTQIA child showing a happy, loving family that truly embraces their child for everything that their child is," Union said of what drew her to take on the role.
The actress, who is married to NBA player Dwyane Wade with whom she has a 4-year-old daughter, as well as being a stepmother to his three children, said it was easy to find inspiration for her performance.
"I mean, I based Meridian off of me, you know, I'm a pretty kick butt mum who also has a life outside of the home. And but I also try to be there as much as I can and as far as show my love as demonstratively as I possibly can to, not only my husband, but... that's my mom over there... but to my children as well. So I think it comes from home," Union, 50, said.
"Strange World" is directed by Oscar-winner Don Hall and written and co-directed by Qui Nguyen, who previously collaborated on "Raya and the Last Dragon".
" It's a love letter to our kids, to our fathers. We are definitely children of strong men, and we are also parents of very obnoxious kids. And so with those powers combined, we knew we had definitely the resources to tell a very funny and moving adventure," said Nguyen.
Hall said the filmmakers set out to make a movie that was "diverse and accessible to everybody", and that Ethan is one of the first out gay teenage characters in a Disney film.
"Mbita, which was an episode of 'Baymax!' on Disney+ might have been the first but it's, you know, certainly a character we're very proud of Ethan and, you know, we've loved him for four years now and we're so excited to share him with the world," he said.
"Even just making this, I was thinking in the back of my head how much my younger self would have loved this," Young-White, who voices the 16-year-old character, said.
"The story is amazing and the animation is amazing and it's just a huge plus that you get to do something that potentially could mean something to a lot of people."
Gyllenhaal will expand his exploration of family themes next year. The actor announced last week that he will make his literary debut with the children's book "The Secret society of Aunts & Uncles" which he co-wrote with his friend Greta Caruso.
"I read books to my nieces when they were really little, and I always thought like, oh, there's not really, there's no real children's book about the relationship between, you know, a nephew and a niece and aunt and uncle and how specific and singular that is. And so my best friend and I talked about it one night and we were like 'oh, it would be really cool to write a book about that'. And so here we are. We wrote a book about it, I'm really proud of it."
"Strange World" is released globally from November 23.
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