Jake Gyllenhaal reveals contracting staph infection after filming intense 'Road House' scene with UFC star Conor McGregor
Jake Gyllenhaal went at it with Conor McGregor and, even in a cinematic context, still ended up getting hurt.
A sliced hand during a 'Road House' scene between the two saw Gyllenhaal end up with a staph infection in his right hand.
The prolific actor revealed this during his recent appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard. Gyllenhaal plays the role of former MMA fighter Elwood Dalton, while 'The Notorious' plays the role of Knox.
Dalton vs. Knox involved the use of breakaway glass, and while safety precautions were taken, Gyllenhaal had a piece of the glass still puncture his hand as he placed it on the bar amid one of the takes. The Academy Award nominee was a trooper and finished the take with McGregor. The two had already shot the scene multiple times, and he felt they were amid a great take.
When the director called cut on the scene, Gyllenhaal noticed his whole arm had swelled up by that point. Alas, Gyllenhaal received medical attention promptly and later recovered. Meanwhile, the film will hit Prime Video this Thursday.
As per TMZ, recalling the moment in question, Gyllenhaal said:
"I go over the bar. It's CGIed that truck coming in but we had to do the whole thing. The doors opening and all that s***. So then I get up, I'm supposed to have sort of been a little bit out of it and I put my hand on the bar, f****** straight glass. But the take I knew was good because we were cutting right before and they didn't cut."
"So I was like around the corner and I was like f***, we're not doing it again. I felt the glass go into my hand. So that's the part where I slam the door on his leg. So I have to just finish that off so I can get to that point. I remember the feeling and went that's a lot of glass. I just finish the f****** take. I just finish the take and that's it. Stuff like that all the time, I mean staph from grappling and all that. You get those types of injuries."
Check out the clip of Jake Gyllenhaal discussing the situation below:
Jake Gyllenhaal portraying an MMA fighter on UFC
Jake Gyllenhaal also filmed a scene for 'Road House' at the UFC 285 weigh-ins, but the involvement of the UFC would not stop there. After weighing in for a pretend middleweight title fight versus 'Road House's' champion in-cannon Jax Harris, Dalton, aka Gyllenhaal, would enter the octagon to throw down.
The California native filmed a fight scene inside Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena complete with a full walkout and fighter entrance. Gyllenhaal's character would get it done by the way of knockout against former UFC veteran Jay Hieron who played the role of Harris. Dalton took a couple of shots early on within the curated combat but eventually dropped Harris with an uppercut and follow-up flying knee.
Alas, Gyllenhaal's character did not illustrate the greatest level of sportsmanship. He pushed the referee away when the official tried to stop Dalton's follow-up punches to the grounded Harris, aka Hieron.