Entertainment

Jake In The 'Southpaw' Trailer Is Terrifying

by Alyse Whitney

March 27, 2015

Think about Jake Gyllenhaal shirtless, sweaty, and passionate. Sounds like a dream come true, right? It's actually a nightmare in the new Southpaw trailer, because he's also covered in blood, screaming, and throwing punches in the boxing ring. Gyllenhaal plays boxer Billy “The Great” Hope, a reigning Junior Middleweight Champion who is brutal in the ring and has an even more tragic life outside of work. In the newly-released footage, we find out that his wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), dies in an accident he may have caused and his downward spiral into drugs and alcohol makes Childhood Protective Services take his daughter away. Of course, this inevitably is a story of redemption and trying to get his family back, with Billy staging a comeback with the help of former boxer Tick (Forest Whitaker).

This role was originally supposed to be played by Eminem since it's a sequel of sorts to 8 Mile, using boxing instead of rapping to mirror his life. However, Gyllenhaal took over the part and brought an even more terrifying side to him than we saw in Nightcrawler — and that's some stiff competition. Although he's still one of the sexiest men in Hollywood, seeing him in Southpaw may give you nightmares and change the way you look at him forever. There are some sweet scenes with McAdams and his onscreen daughter that help ease the pain, but in the six highlighted moments below, he's so scary that he's almost not attractive at all.