First there was method acting (sometimes it wins you an Emmy, sometimes it bristles your costars, sometimes it does both). Then a novel phenomenon called method dressing took red carpets by storm (remember Zendaya’s perfectly executed tennis-themed looks for her Challengers press tour?) Next up: The method dressing room.
Othello star Jake Gyllenhaal’s backstage home-away-from-home in Broadway’s Barrymore theater is an extension of the Shakespearean world he’s been steeped in while developing his version of Iago, the duplicitous ensign to the titular Venetian army general played by Denzel Washington. The revival is a modern take on The Bard’s centuries-old tragedy with relatively spare set design, so Gyllenhaal’s dressing room presented an opportunity to bring the narrative to life with more evocative decor.
“I was told that it’s the dressing room that Marlon Brando was in for A Streetcar Named Desire.
It has hundreds of layers of paint from every performer that has had or shared that room, and so it holds within it a deep, rich history that I am honored to be a part of and to add to, even if it’s temporary,” Gyllenhaal tells AD.
The BAFTA winner has a soft spot for design, evidenced by his role as an ambassador for the luxury Italian porcelain purveyor Ginori 1735, so, naturally, he was inclined toward an elevated approach for the short-term dwelling.
To make the most of his time in such hallowed quarters, Gyllenhaal brought in designers Ruby Kean and Lisa Jones of Atelier LK, a firm operating out of New York and London. Kean says the trio agreed upon a vision for the room that was “narrative-driven, but also something that would be very comfortable for him that he could really retreat into,” given the demanding, high-pressure environment of a Broadway production. Another consensus was highlighting local creatives with their decorative choices. Gyllenhaal’s “love for artisan craftsmanship, as well as emerging designers in New York, was quite a key thing for Ruby and I to explore,” Jones says.
A handmade chess set by NYC-based designer Minjae Kim serves as a stylish callout to the calculated gameplay characteristic of Iago, whose plotline is defined by his meticulous orchestration of Othello’s downfall. Pulled up to the board are a pair of chairs also by Kim—one light, one dark—that echo the aesthetic of the chessboard itself while aligning with the themes of racial dichotomy underpinning the tale.
Subtlety, though, was key. Kean explains the team was cognizant of staying grounded and mindful about “capturing the world of Othello in a way that didn’t feel too overly literal.” Accessories woven throughout the dressing room reference the play in a more understated manner, but conjuring the appropriately dark and dramatic vibe to match Othello led to an emphasis on sourcing the right lighting. Two ochre sconces of Venetian Murano glass (made by New York designer Dana Arbib), Sophie Lou Jacobsen’s Tulipa pendant in a moody tobacco shade, and a prickly Crown of Thorns lamp by Wretched Flowers offer Gyllenhaal “the ability to be flexible with the lighting,” per Kean. “It’s warm yet elegant. It’s comforting, but it has a sense of formality to it, and I love that they’ve really tried to make it feel like the spaces I’ve been to in Venice,” Gyllenhaal says of the sultry lighting.
The more nuanced nods to the Italian locale in which the play opens are balanced with a statement-making, theatrical approach to the room’s walls, which set the scene via Rafa Prieto x Wallpaper Projects photographs of Venice blown up large. The dressing room is “a very small and intimate space, and we really wanted it to take on the charm and romanticism of the play,” Kean says. Two immersive images taken in the city lend themselves to distinctively separate moods in their respective vignettes. A shot of a salmon-hued façade along Salizada dei Spechieri tonally encourages “people to gather, feel energized, to learn lines—making more of an uplifting, lighter space,” Jones says. A more low-key ambiance takes shape in the room’s back area. Jones explains that a wall wrapped in the image of a café table with a dim, low-down view of the canal was chosen with the intent of helping Gyllenhaal “unwind, relax, take a moment to rest, and to feel a little bit more like a downtime space.”
Of course, there hasn’t been much downtime of late. “Denzel’s made his way up there a couple of times, but just through the nature of him being the general, I tend to go to his room. The rest of the cast comes in and out. At this point, we’re all so focused. It’s quite a piece to try and do service to, so we’re all onstage all the time rehearsing when we’re not in the play,” Gyllenhaal says. “When time comes and we’re in our run and we get to come in at 5:00 or 6:00 for an 8:00 p.m. show, I hope we’ll hang out there a lot more.”
Othello starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal officially opens March 23 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and runs through June 8.
Gallery Link:
Theater Productions > Othello (2025) > Dressing Room Photoshoot for Architectural Digest
