Jake Gyllenhaal came close to replacing Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker in Spider-Man 2, but the actor was finally able to swing into the Marvel Universe as Mysterio in 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home. The actor did a spectacular job as Quentin Beck, but the role was one he's admitted to struggling with.
As a big fan of Spider-Man and the MCU, Gyllenhaal recently explained to Howard Stern that his anxiety got the best of him on the set of the Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures sequel.
"I was freaking out," he confessed. "It was a scene with [Samuel L.] Jackson, Tom…there were a number of actors in that scene...And I remember not being able to remember my lines. I went up to Tom Holland and was like, 'Dude, help me out.' He's like, 'It's all good, man. Just relax.' It was like he was me in so many situations. And I finally did."
"I just put a lot of pressure on [myself] because I love that world. I love that world, man. It's not me coming in as an actor going like, 'Oh, I've made 60 films...I know what I'm doing," Gyllenhaal continued. "It's me coming in every time being like, 'I love Spider-Man. I love this world. I want to kill it here.'"
Stern agreed with the actor's sentiments and pointed out the sheer scale of the MCU. That led to him recalling how out of his depth he felt on the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel's set. "Exactly. Like, Sam Jackson's just rolling with it, throwing out improv, they're changing movies around him. And I'm just, like, I can't even barely get my line out."
Despite the difficulties he faced working on Spider-Man: Far From Home, Gyllenhaal nailed Mysterio and delivered a top tier MCU villain in the process. The hope among fans is that he'll return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, especially as Beck orchestrated Peter's identity being revealed to the world and made him a wanted murderer.
Check out our interview with Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis below: