Gyllenhaal attributes conquering fear to Oscar-winning documentary

In this June 17, 2019 file photo, actor Jake Gyllenhaal poses for photographers upon arrival at the photo call for 'Spiderman: Far From Home' in London. AP-Yonhap

Few performances are as daunting as the one-person play.

That's why Jake Gyllenhaal had to find a way to conquer that fear when he took on the role of Abe in the second half of ``Sea Wall/A Life.''

``Before I did it, I was terrified,'' Gyllenhaal said of ``A Life,'' after the play's Broadway opening. Tom Sturridge stars in ``Sea Wall,'' the other half of the pair of one-act monologues.

Gyllenhaal admits that nervousness extended to the rehearsal room. But then he found confidence in an unlikely place. The story of Alex Honnold's 3,000-foot (914-meter) climb of the El Capitan rock formation at Yosemite National Park.

``I was sort of quaking in my boots thinking about it. Then I saw `Free Solo,' that documentary about the free climber Alex Honnold that won the Academy Award. Amazing, amazing documentary, and I thought to myself, if he can do that without any rope I can do a monologue. And then that was it,'' Gyllenhaal said.

From then on, it was smooth sailing.

It was a little different for Sturridge. ``I feel like weirdly - like before I walk on stage I feel fear. But I feel safest on the stage,'' Sturridge said.

Both actors say the lack of an onstage partner to play off of can add to the stress; there isn't a safety net if you blow a line. But Sturridge uses the audience.

``Normally when you're on stage you're pretending to be in a room and pretending like you're in Russia and 1920s and you're pretending the audience don't exist. But with this, I'm having a conversation with real people who are different every night. And if I blow a line, then we just change the conversation,'' Sturridge said.

``Sea Wall/A Life,'' a pair of plays written by Nick Payne and Simon Stephens, respectively are tragic comedies that deal with love and loss.

Gyllenhaal says the emotional value shifts with each audience.

``It's very emotional through all of it. But it changes every night. It's different. Sometimes I'm telling the story, I'm just telling it. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes I hear someone in the audience have an emotional response. He was laughing or crying, and it makes me feel something,'' he said.

``Sea Wall/A Life'' plays on Broadway at the Hudson Theater until Sept. 29. (AP)