With director Roland Emmerich’s latest actioner White House Down opening this weekend, Sony held a big press junket across the street from the White House. While I’ve done a lot of interviews, it was incredibly cool to be talking to the cast and Emmerich with the President’s home right in front of us. If you’ve missed all the trailers, the film follows a rejected Secret Service applicant (Channing Tatum) who must save the President (Jamie Foxx) when a heavily-armed paramilitary group takes over the White House. White House Down also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, Jake Weber, Lance Reddick, and Jason Clarke.
During my interview with Gyllenhaal she talked about whether it was a fun shoot, if she wanted to be involved in more of the action (which leads to a great story about making The Dark Knight), what advice Jamie Foxx told her, deleted scenes, what she learned about the White House, and a lot more. Hit the jump to watch.
Finally, if you missed any of my set visit coverage, be sure to check out 35 things to know and my extended interviews with Tatum, Emmerich, producers Brad Fischer and Reid Carolin, producer Harold Kloser, and production designer Kirk M. Petruecelli.
Maggie Gyllenhaal:
- I make a joke about the location where the interview is taking place
- Was the film fun to make
- Did she want to be more involved in the big fight sequences. Talks about her work on The Dark Knight and watching them film the fight scene
- Talks about a deleted scene where she had to shoot someone and the advice Jamie Foxx gave her on how to make it better
- What did she learn about the White House that she didn't know going in
- Talks about what the secret service told her and how the movie isn't trying to depict everything with 100% accuracy
