Jake Gyllenhaal Says Costarring With Brother-In-Law Peter Sarsgaard Was ‘So Fun’

Jake Gyllenhaal opened up about working with brother-in-law Peter Sarsgaard on AppleTV+’s Presumed Innocent.

“I think it was a real wish that we’d get him when we all spoke about actors that could play that role,” Gyllenhaal told Entertainment Tonight on Sunday, June 9, from the world premiere of his new series at the Tribeca Film Festival. Gyllenhaal stars in Presumed Innocent, but also serves as an executive producer alongside J.J. Abrams and David E. Kelly.

The Road House star, 43, further joked to ET that he and the other producers considered Sarsgaard to be a “long shot” for the cast, even though Gyllenhaal has “an in” with the 53-year-old actor, who has been married to his sister Maggie Gyllenhaal since 2009.

Presumed Innocent, which is set to premiere on AppleTV+ on Wednesday, June 12, was adapted from Scott Turow’s 1986 novel of the same name and follows Gyllenhaal as deputy prosecutor Rusty Sabich who has been accused of murder. Sarsgaard stars opposite Gyllenhaal as Tommy Molto, another deputy prosecutor who will face off with Sabich at trial.

“Working every day on these scenes, though they are antagonistic, it was so fun for the two of us,” Gyllenhaal said to ET. “There’s that thing with actors that we love those scenes, you know? You always love that you act those things out and it’s full of drama.”

He continued, “But also, you get to bring a kind of catharsis to your own relationship. You know, there is a way of us bringing the history of us and then also at the same time just the deep respect we have for each other.”

Sarsgaard similarly praised his brother-in-law and costar on the Tribeca Film Festival red carpet, telling ET, “Jake is always very intentional about what he does. He does things for — with integrity.” He continued, “He’s way more ambitious than I am in that respect. It’s really nice to be around someone who really will not stop until it’s what he wants it to be.”

The Memory actor also shared what interested him about the role in the first place. “David Kelley and J.J. Abrams approached me with a pilot and the pilot was — [it] made me want to know what happened next and then some,” Sarsgaard said. “Subsequently, the second one too and then so on and so forth.”

Gyllenhaal similarly told ET of Presumed Innocent, “I thought there were so many questions set up in the first episode that I was fascinated by kind of the sort of moral high wire and also kind of tsunami that this character was thrown in.”

Presumed Innocent premieres on AppleTV+ on June 12.