Jake Gyllenhaal’s newly released movieThe Guiltywas filmed in just 11 days, a process the actor said “needed to be done.”
The Netflix film, which began streaming on the service last week, takes place over the course of a single morning in a 911 call dispatch call center.
It stars Gyllenhaal, 40, as call operator Joe Baylor, who “tries to save a caller in grave danger” but “soon discovers that nothing is as it seems, and facing the truth is the only way out,” per Netflix’s description.
During an interview withCollider, Gyllenhaal and director Antoine Fuqua opened up about filmingThe Guiltyin such a short time period during the early COVID-19 lockdown.
“I couldn’t even tell you right now,” Fuqua, 55, said when asked how they did it. “You know, we just did it.”
Jake Gyllenhaal.NETFLIX
He continued, “It just felt like something that needed to happen. Right, the height of COVID, the story was compelling, I was available for a short period, Jake was available for a short period. We just had to make it work. And it really is a credit to our industry and the people who work in our industry, that everybody came on board, art director, production designers, DPs.”
“I mean, everybody jumped on this movie to make it work knowing we were under pressure for time during COVID to keep everyone safe,” Fuqua said. “So I think it was just one of those things where we just did it.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Gyllenhaal said he “always thought it should be shot in a very short period of time.”
GLEN WILSON/NETFLIX
“We both do like a challenge but I think it was sort of baked into the process and into the story from the jump,” he said. “I don’t know how much you could indulge a story like that. It needed to be done with a time clock.”
The rest of the cast includes Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Bill Burr.
The Guiltyis available to stream now on Netflix.
source: people.com
