With director Michael Bay’s best film in years, Ambulance, now playing in theaters, I recently got to speak with Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza González, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II about making the non-stop action thriller. During the interview (which was a lot funnier than I expected), the three of them talked about what it was like working with Bay and how quickly he changes what they’re filming, shooting the intense surgery scene in the ambulance, what it was like working with the drones, and the way Bay embraces new technology. In addition—continuing my streak of asking Gyllenhaal about David Fincher’s Zodiac in every interview—he talked about the way Fincher and Bay are similar in what they’re looking for on set.
Ambulance is based on a 2005 Dutch film of the same name made by Laurits Munch-Petersen and Lars Andreas Pedersen. Bay’s film, which was written by Chris Fedak, follows Will Sharp (Abdul-Mateel II), a retired veteran who needs money for his wife’s surgery. He goes to his adoptive brother Danny (Gyllenhaal), who involves him in a heist that quickly goes wrong, leaving them outrunning the cops in an ambulance with an LAPD officer in critical condition and an EMT (González) as hostages.
Watch what Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza González, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II had to say in the player above, or you can read exactly what they had to say below.
COLLIDER: As Jake knows, whenever I interview him, I have to bring up something and it's called Zodiac. And I was trying to figure out a new way to tie Zodiac into Ambulance. And I think I got it.
JAKE GYLLENHAAL: Okay.
EIZA GONZÁLEZ: Wow.
Can you compare a little bit? Because Bay and Fincher are so radically different.
GYLLENHAAL: Same, similar.
Very similar.
GONZÁLEZ: Identical.
They're so similar in the way that they work with the amount of takes and the slowness to the speed. Can you sort of compare and contrast Bay and Fincher?
GYLLENHAAL: In technique?
However you would like to do it.
GONZÁLEZ: Good luck.
GYLLENHAAL: Actually, I would say, you're talking about two auteurs, right? I don't think people would necessarily consider Michael Bay to be that, or be deemed that. You know? But I do.
In the action genre, I think he's an auteur and his style in working is about capturing what is alive and real in a moment. And I think outside of Fincher and comparatively Bay, I think every great director that I've worked with is going after what is honest. They're great because that's what they're trying to do, whether it's in the frame, which I know Fincher spends a lot of time focused on. Michael does too, in a totally different way. They're actually radically similar in them following energy that they feel is honest.
I am a big fan of Michael Bay, and I agree with what you're saying. He's such a unique filmmaker because he pivots in the moment into whatever he sees. I'm curious for all three of you, what is it like to work with someone who will be like, "Okay, let's just go on the highway right now and we're going to film this and I need you to learn these lines and go."?
GYLLENHAAL: I think it's really artistic.
GONZÁLEZ: Yes. Totally.
GYLLENHAAL: I mean, I know that sounds kind of like, it's sort of not this, but it felt really artistic.
GONZÁLEZ: Totally. Absolutely.
GYLLENHAAL: It was like, this is a whim I'm of go over here. Let's go. And because you-
GONZÁLEZ: You got to jump on it.
YAHYA ABDUL-MATEEN II: Yeah, you got to be game and just stop asking questions. You know?
GONZÁLEZ: Yeah.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Just stop asking questions.
GYLLENHAAL: I never asked him any questions.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: And just say, "Okay, this is how this ... " After about two days, you get to sort of understand, oh, this is how this movie works. So this is how making this movie works. Because it was different for me. It was for sure, for sure different for me. Like a director who improvises. Most of the directors that I've had, it's all been storyboarded and planned out. You have a little bit of delineation from the things that we plan to do, a little bit, but Michael is really ... He has the plan and then he's working from his inspiration at the same time.
GONZÁLEZ: Yeah. And there was days that we were ... I mean, as an actor, it's sort of a great gift. Sometimes you become comfortable with this rhythm of, you what you're going to shoot and each day, and sort of you build slowly to that. I think that we learned really quickly on day two or three, that basically there was days that he would pull up and he's like, "We're going to do scene 45 of ... " And we're like, "Wait, that's slated for three weeks." He's like, "I don't know. I got to shoot it right now. Because I have an idea and just came into my mind and you got to do." So as an actor, you're sort of over prepared an advance now.
GYLLENHAAL: Not me.
GONZÁLEZ: Not him, but us, we were. Of course, he's never prepared. Then you really are just like, "Fuck it. Let's go like, let's do whatever we got to do."
GYLLENHAAL: There is a lot of swearing in this interview.
GONZÁLEZ: Sorry. Jesus. You opened this can of worms.
I'm very sorry. The surgery scene in the ambulance in this film is a ... I almost cursed, but I pulled myself back. It is F-ing crazy.
GYLLENHAAL: I'm not in that scene, but they used my spleen.
GONZÁLEZ: It was his. Yeah, he donated it.
GYLLENHAAL: Just so you know, I sort of-
GONZÁLEZ: For the art.
GYLLENHAAL:... am in that scene, but I'm not given the credit that I deserve.
GONZÁLEZ: Yeah. Jake did it for the love of art.
This is very interesting that this is the movie you were willing to donate the spleen on.
GYLLENHAAL: In this, yeah. It is.
Of all the movies-
GONZÁLEZ: It was this one.
But I am curious what was it like actually filming that sequence? Because it's such a nail biter. I had to look away from the screen a little bit.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: I had to look away from the job a little bit.
GONZÁLEZ: I wanted to look away and I couldn't.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Yeah. I mean, what was that like for you?
GONZÁLEZ: I mean, for both of us, it was a... you don't really know how to play something like that at the moment. Right? It's like, do I go overboard? It's just like more, more blood, more. It's like, I don't understand what's...It was such a strange scene to film because also, he just started adding things like when he wakes up, you punch him. It just-
GYLLENHAAL: Well, that was added. Oh, yeah.
GONZÁLEZ: That wasn’t in the script, and he was just like punch him. And we're like, "Wait, what?" He's like, "Just let him wake up.' I was like, "What?"" And your hand's going to be in his stomach. And at that point you're just like, "Let's go." But it was cool. I mean, it's an incredible ... It's one of my favorite scenes that I've ever done. It looks so real because of the way he shoots it.
I think one really cool thing that I've noticed that happens in this movie, looking back at his work before is because of the contained space that we had within the ambulance, it kind of forced him to change a little bit, the way he shoots and his shots. Usually, he's very open with his shots, and he's so close in our faces in this movie because there's no actual space for him to do it, that it gives the scene so much anxiety. And it adds this vibrating handheld shots, that it really built that scene more than we, it felt on the day, but it was fun.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Oh yeah, for sure.
GONZÁLEZ: We had so much fun, and it was a good ... We were throwing around things and just doing wild-
GYLLENHAAL: I will say what I was upset about was that I had heard a lot about the bullhorn, the Michael Bay Bullhorn.
GONZÁLEZ: Oh yeah. We didn't have it.
GYLLENHAAL: Just never really appeared.
I've been on set, watching him work, and I've seen a Bay-hem moment, where he got really upset. But I've also seen him be the closest to the explosions with his own camera, holding it to make sure the shot is perfect. You know?
GONZÁLEZ: Yeah.
GYLLENHAAL: Yes. There is amazing quality to him, in that I remember there were four or five shots where he said, "Oh, that's in the trailer." He'd be shooting it. And he'd go, "That's in the trailer. It's in the trailer." Like, I'm trying to-
GONZÁLEZ: Say lines.
GYLLENHAAL: You're going, "I'm acting." And then it's like, "That's in the trailer." I'm like, "Oh, dude. You know?
ABDUL-MATEEN II: I'm like, "I'm not thinking about the trailer right now."
GYLLENHAAL: But sure enough, a number of those shots are in the trailer.
Speaking of cool shots, this movie has shots that I've never seen in any film because of the drones. And I'm curious, what was it like as actors? Talk a little bit about the drones. And what was your reaction when you saw what he was doing and the guys with the visual glasses and everything?
GONZÁLEZ: Also, that the guys with the visual glasses are like 14 years old.
GYLLENHAAL: It's incredible stuff. I mean, truly it's incredible, the stuff they're doing. I mean, they're drone racers.
GONZÁLEZ: Impressive.
GYLLENHAAL: I mean, essentially, they're racing those drones, and then now they've transposed that into filming it. But I mean, some of those shots down the sides of the buildings following the cop cars, and the cars are like-
GONZÁLEZ: Under the cars, when they jump bank.
GYLLENHAAL: And then also, I'd never worked with drones inside. A lot of the heist is drone work, flying by, as you're running out with a...there are three shots in very small quarters where they're actually drones. And the first shot that I did in the bank was a drone coming at me. And then them just saying to me, "As soon as it gets close enough, you should really... They'll get out of your way, but you should probably too." You know? So, we rolled and action, and then it sort of started coming to me. It was about 1,000 yards away, and I just dropped it. So yeah, I was courageous.
GONZÁLEZ: Yeah. It was so crazy.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: I mean, it's cool. You know? I mean, that doesn't really do it justice, if you say, "Well, what is it like?" It's really cool. There's moments on this film where you can ... If you haven't seen these, if you haven't seen it done before, you can definitely lose a take watching the show. Like watching the movie being made. You know?
GONZÁLEZ: Yeah. Totally.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Because the there's a lot of just really cool moments in the making of it.
GYLLENHAAL: Any given moment, they're like two dudes, just like their eyes. They're just sort of wandering around…
GONZÁLEZ: Who are 14 years old, which is impressive. They're so young. You walk in, and they're like, "Huh." And with the like little caps, and we're like, "Who are these kids?" And they're like, "Oh, they're the cameramen." I'm like, "Huh." And they're just like in there, like paid off to play all those video games when they're growing up. And they're, I mean, future massive filmmakers. They're so good. The shots are incredible.
ABDUL-MATEEN II: Yeah. And Michael doesn't have an ego. He's following the experts. I think that's just another example of the way that he works.
On that note, I need to stop. I'm just going to say congrats on the movie.
GYLLENHAAL: Thank you, man.
Ambulance is now in theaters.