'Road House' Fights With Jack Gyllenhaal & Conor McGregor Reportedly Got Out Of Hand
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on March 24, 2024 at 11:30 AM EDT
When filming their new movie 'Road House', Jake Gyllenhaal reveals some of the behind-the-scenes moments between him and his co-star, UFC fighter Conor McGregor got a bit out of hand.
In order to prepare for the film, Gyllenhaal went through some dedicated training so he could take on the role of Elwood Dalton, an ex-UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer. He worked alongside McGregor, who is making his acting debut with this film.
Gyllenhaal says McGregor helped him learn how to throw punches and jabs to help make the fight scenes more realistic, but things took a turn when the UFC fighter hit Gyllenhaal in the face, and when the actor gave McGregor a black eye.
Jake Gyllenhaal Reveals What Happened Behind The Scenes When Filming 'Road House'
'Road House' tells the story of "ex-UFC fighter Elwood Dalton who takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems," per the official description. The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Elwood Dalton), Conor McGregor (Knox), Daniela Melchoir (Ellie), Billy Magnussen (Ben Brandt), Jessica Williams (Frankie), and B.K. Cannon (Laura).
To prep for the film, director Doug Liman "wanted to shoot a lot of these takes in long takes—so 8 to 10 combinations at a time," Gyllenhaal told Decider of the filming process and the fight scenes. "We had this four pass process, which is a new way of shooting fight sequences, which required the Hollywood pass; then a pass with pads of like hitting a pad and then getting hit with the pads, you could get the impact from both sides; and then a slow motion version."
Adding, "So each one of these takes had to do these passes. We’d have to lay down the take that worked, and then do the passes. So we go back to the monitor, and we look."
Conor McGregor Hit Jake Gyllenhaal In The Face
The 'Ambulance' actor revealed that McGregor helped the actor learn how to throw the punches and "give [him] instructions."
"[He would say,] 'Oh, this punch didn’t really work that way. Maybe throw your arm a bit forward more. You got to step into it more, you got to really turn your body on that next combination'."
"He’d give me all these directions," the 43-year-old actor said of McGregor.
But, things sometimes got a bit out of hand as Gyllenhaal revealed the UFC fighter accidentally hit him in the face. "At one point, [Conor’s] talking to me by the monitor—and we shot a lot of these fights at night. Inevitably, it’s late, and we’re all talking, we’re all kind of delirious," he recalled.
He then broke out his Irish accent to imitate McGregor, telling the outlet that the UFC fight said, "Okay, so when you throw that left, make sure you come at me real hard with that right!”
"And he just pow, by mistake, hit me in the face!" Gyllenhaal recalled, "For all this time, shooting all these takes where we were not hitting each other at all. He was like, 'Oh, I’m so sorry!'"
Jake Gyllenhaal Gave Conor McGregor A Black Eye
The actor recalled another time where the fight scenes got a bit out of hand. In one of the scenes, Gyllenhaal has "to hit it with a door over and over again, but it was all a matter of measurement—inches."
He went on to explain that "sometimes [McGregor would] move his face," resulting in Gyllenhaal hitting him on the eye, actually, on the side of his eye.
"He got a black eye from that," the actor recalled, "But, generally, given the amount of fighting we did on this movie, I’m surprised that we didn’t actually make contact more often."
Adding, "The irony is you’re working with a professional fighter, and their measurement of distance is wholly different than anybody who’s a non-professional. It’s advantageous, because he knows the difference in millimeters of how to make it look real and not [actually hit you.]"
Conor McGregor Praises Jake Gyllenhaal
Conor McGregor, who is making his acting debut in 'Road House', recently spoke out on what it was like working with the 'The Covenant actor and how the two prepared for the fight scenes.
“There was real shots landed and it was tough, grueling work and a lot of fun," the UFC fighter told Extra, “Jake has a jab. He knows how to throw a back hand, the lead hook, has his uppercuts."
Gyllenhaal is a “consummate professional,” he added.
'Road House' is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime.