Entertainment

Jake Gyllenhaal: I hope Patrick Swayze would have enjoyed Road House remake

Gyllenhaal will portray a bouncer hired to watch over a bar in the reboot of the 1989 film.

Jake Gyllenhaal in the film Road House
Jake Gyllenhaal in the film Road House (Laura Radford/Prime Video/PA)

Jake Gyllenhaal has reflected on working with Patrick Swayze as he stars in a remake of action thriller Road House.

Dirty Dancing star Swayze played James Dalton, a New York City bouncer hired to protect a bar in Jasper, Missouri, in the original 1989 film.

Oscar-nominated actor Gyllenhaal takes the lead in the 2024 version, opposite Irish fighter Conor McGregor in the ex-UFC champion’s first film acting role.

Gyllenhaal portrays a former UFC fighter called Elwood Dalton, who takes a job as a bouncer at a roadside bar in the Florida Keys, in Amazon Prime Video movie Road House.

Gyllenhaal wrote on Instagram: “I’ve been thinking back about my time working with Patrick on Donnie Darko, and rewatching this great man in the original Road House plus so many other films.

“I’ve never stopped being a fan. He was such a talent and I continue to have so much respect and admiration for what he put out and into the world.

“I’ll never forget his kindness to me when I was starting out— he didn’t have to take the time, but he always did. We’ve made a different RH this time around, but hoping it’s one he would’ve had fun watching!”

Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Academy Award for romantic film Brokeback Mountain, along with his co-star Heath Ledger, who died in 2008 at the age of 28.

He is also known for playing a sleepwalking teenager in cult classic Donnie Darko, which saw Swayze play a motivational speaker.

Swayze died from pancreatic cancer in 2009 aged 57.

Road House will be released on Amazon Prime Video on March 21.