'Nightcrawler' director feels working with Jake Gyllenhaal was 'deeply rewarding'

Nominated for the 'Best Original Screenplay' at the Academy Awards last year, 'Nightcrawler' has received critical acclaim, with many praising Jake Gyllenhaal's performance and Dan Gilroy's script.

Gilroy, who made his debut as a director with this film, has revealed his experience of shooting this film and said, "Working with Gyllenhaal was an "intense" and deeply rewarding collaboration."

Speaking about his experience of working with the 'Brokeback Mountain' star, he said, "I flew to Atlanta when he was shooting 'Prisoners' to discuss about him doing the part. He respected the script and not one word got changed. I'm sort of a degenerate gambler and I like taking risks. Jake is just utterly fearless and he wanted to try things. So, we decided very early on that we were going to collaborate intensely, with a lot of rehearsals."

The 56-year-old American screenwriter and film director also revealed that the 'Love & Other Drugs' actor lost 30lbs to play the role because he wanted his character Lou to have a gaunt, hungry look as befitting a down at heel drifter who is desperate to succeed.

"Jake approached it like a play, so I was extraordinarily happy to work with him because he respected the work, and I wanted to respect his ability to come in and breathe life into it in a way that I was not capable of. As an example, the weight loss - that was his idea", he added.

The movie revolves around a former thief who is struggling to survive in a harsh contemporary world where getting any job has become harder, but he is desperate to live the American dream - even if it means filming other people's nightmares. He starts shooting live footage of accidents and crimes in Los Angeles, selling the content to local news channels as a stringer while secretly sabotaging both crime scenes and other news reporters.

'Nightcrawler' is all set to premier on Star Movies Select on 2nd April.