Jake Gyllenhal 'Southpaw' Training: No Body Double in Boxing Movie

Talk about a knockout! It has been reported that Jake Gyllenhaal really makes a transformation as his character, Billy Hope, in his new movie Southpaw. We learned this week that he had absolutely no body double for his boxing scenes in the film, even when his back is shown. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter and Equalizer) was right alongside of Gyllenhaal, training as well. Gyllenhaal tells ABC News that he trained for 5 months and that he needed to be available for all of the scenes, at all angles because there weren't any doubles or stand-ins hired for shots like that. Training was something Gyllenhaal had never gone through before and he talks about getting extremely into character as Hope and how the physicality of not only getting into shape for the role, but getting into "boxing shape" was a particular challenge.

He explains, according to Yahoo! News, "I think there is a positive but also a very animalistic side to getting into shape like that." He continues to talk about how he was a bit nervous that he wouldn't be able to pull off being a boxer. He says, "I think part of it is, when you haven't done it since you were a kid or you don't feel as confident or know a whole lot about it, I think it's, for me personally, you know you have to pull it off in the way I knew Antoine wanted to shoot the movie, which was as realistically as possible." He was really lucky to have such a dedicated director as well who helped him and was there for him every step of the way while Gyllenhaal made his transformation.

The experience to prepare for the role has really motivated Gyllenhaal and he explains to ABC News that all children should be involved in sports, the arts or both because he believes that it gives them a healthy place to express their feelings.

Southpaw also stars Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, 50 Cent, Naomie Harris, Miguel Gomez and Victor Ortiz and features the writing talent of Kurt Sutter (The Shield and Sons of Anarchy). The movie hits theaters July 24, 2015. Check out the trailer here: