In a chic New York office, Jake Gyllenhaal is sitting alongside a man named Jeff Bauman. Bauman is an author, a motivational speaker and an advocate but is best known as a man who lost both legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. During his rehabilitation, he also became a rare beacon of hope, shining out of a dark tragedy.

The pair are interviewing each other for a Facebook Q&A, as part of the promotion for Stronger, the movie adaptation of Bauman’s best-selling book of the same name, which he co-wrote in the aftermath of the attack.

Gyllenhaal portrays Bauman in the film, a role which has already garnered attention this awards season. The interview looks to be your typical junket fare – a bit of back and forth about the film, before those involved simply sit back and take turns blowing smoke up each other’s arses. But it’s not.

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Jake’s performance in ‘Stronger’ is among W Magazine’s best performances of 2017.

Jake Gyllenhaal in Stronger

“My dad always told me, ‘The job of an artist is to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.’ That’s always in my mind. It’s why I’m attracted to projects that are maybe going to illuminate something to you about yourself. It’s always a little frightening because you don’t know what you’re going to discover.”

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Photoshoots & Outtakes > Sessions > 2017 > Session 004 [W Magazine]

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The dashing Oscar nominee looks back on 25 years in the biz, from kid parts (‘City Slickers’) to teen roles (‘Donnie Darko’) to his first grown-up characters (‘Brokeback Mountain’); lessons learned from the flop of ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’; and how recalibrating his approach led to a streak of great performances (‘End of Watch,’ ‘Prisoners,’ ‘Nightcrawler,’ ‘Southpaw,’ ‘Nocturnal Animals’ and ‘Stronger’).

You can hear the full interview below [starting at 28:46], following a conversation between host Scott Feinberg and Lynne Segall, executive vp and group publisher of The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard, about THR’s history and brand, how awards season impacts ad sales and what it was like following Tichi Wilkerson and Katharine Graham into publishing at a time when few women were in positions of power in media.

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When Jeff Bauman set out to run the Boston Marathon on the morning of April 15, 2013, he couldn’t have imagined the way his life would change when he was caught up in the terrorist attacks at the finish line. When the bombs exploded he lost both his legs in the blast and was captured in a striking photograph being evacuated from the scene. That photograph, and Bauman’s relentless road to recovery, came to typify the “Boston Strong” attitude in the wake of the attacks. For Jake Gyllenhaal, playing Bauman in David Gordon Green’s Stronger could not have been more meaningful a role.

How did you hear about this story?

I only knew about him from a photograph. From that photograph. I didn’t even really know his name very well. The story had been brought to my attention. I was sent a very early draft, and I just loved the character.

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Though Jake Gyllenhaal played the lead role in Stronger, a drama about real-life Boston bombing victim Jeff Bauman, he seems more excited to talk about his role as a producer. “I’ve put two-and-a-half years of my life into this movie, far beyond the performance of it,” he tells Screen International.

“I’ve learned more about myself producing this film and about the film industry than I ever learned before. I’m more proud of it than anything else I’ve ever made, as a result.”

Stronger is the first release from Nine Stories, the production company he founded with Riva Marker in 2015. With projects already lined up with the likes of Luca Guadagnino and Denis Villeneuve, the actor admits this side of the business comes easily to him.

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