Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, whose three movies (Chronicles, Jarhead and Brokeback Mountain) are going to release this fall, is making news for his role in the Gulf War drama ‘Jarhead’.

The film is based on the best-selling book by Anthony Swofford who wrote about his experience in Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War.

Jake talking about the film, the cast and his role said that this movie was a life-changing experience for him. Gyllenhaal had to shave his head and reshape his body for the role but he discovered that stripping aside Hollywood superficiality and getting in touch with his inner grunt made the acting easier.

Oscar-winning director, Sam Mendes recently said “He really went from being a boy to being a man. It happened to him during the shooting of the movie, so a lot of it surprised me and I was really thrilled with what he came up with.”

Gyllenhaal takes the central role of Tony “Swoff” Swofford. Peter Sarsgaard portrays Troy, Swoff’s partner in their elite unit of Marine scout. And Oscar winner Chris Cooper portrays Lt. Col. Kazinski, the commander who itches to unleash his killing machine on an overmatched enemy.

“Jamie Foxx and all the actors in the film, they’re men that I look up to, people I would love to be like. And, eventually, actors I’d like to be like,” Gyllenhaal said.

He also told one of his experiences on the set, when he got so angry about chipping a tooth that he beat up one of his co-stars. Gyllenhaal whacked himself in the mouth with a rifle during a scene where he puts a gun in a co-star’s mouth. He then got so angry he began throwing punches on the surprised unnamed actor.

Gyllenhaal admit, “For some reason, I just got so angry that I had chipped my tooth and just started hitting him and we didn’t talk for a month after that.” However, director Sam Mendes defended Jake, saying a lot of tempers were frayed because of the tough filming conditions.

He said, “It’s 115 degrees, you’re away from trees, cars, everything. You can’t hear anything because the wind’s blowing. You don’t have your clothes, your car, your girlfriend, anything. And I really think Jake forgot he was acting a lot of times.” The movie was shot in the Imperial Valley in Southern California, which features geographical conditions similar to those in Iraq.