Service members and veterans take part in a virtual meetup with the stars of “The Covenant,” Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim, at the USO on Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Friday, April 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan – Dozens of service members and veterans in Japan and Texas cheered Friday as Jimmy Kimmel made a surprise appearance during a virtual meetup with actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim.
The two co-stars fielded questions about their new movie, Guy Ritchie’s “The Covenant,” in the USO-sponsored session when the late-night talk show host made an unannounced visit.
“You mind if I join your Zoom for a second?” Kimmel asked Gyllenhaal before taking a seat next to him.
The three went on to discuss the movie, which features Gyllenhaal as a U.S. Army sergeant and Salim as an Afghan interpreter who take turns rescuing each other from the Taliban during and after the Afghanistan war.
Participants stationed at Yokosuka, Camp Schwab, Okinawa, and along the U.S. southern border, where members of the Texas National Guard are participating in Operation Lone Star, quizzed the actors about their methods, the movie-making process and other topics.
For Army veteran Penelope Praylow-Kyles, a military spouse at Yokosuka, the premise of “The Covenant” hit close to home.
“That was one of the reasons I came out here, because I used to work closely with interpreters in Afghanistan,” she told Stars and Stripes at USO Yokosuka. “It was a great opportunity to show up here and see the stars and hear exactly what it was like to make this film.”
Gyllenhaal, in response to a question from a Texas guardsman, said his portrayal of a service member differed from roles in his past films such as “Jarhead” and “Brothers.”
“I played a young guy [in “Jarhead”] who was trying to figure out his way, so it’s a very different thing than playing a special ops guy who’s had years of experience and is wizened by so many things,” Gyllenhaal said. “I think the choices that my character makes in this movie are based on all the years he served.”
Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Malizia, a trumpet player with the 7th Fleet Band, asked Salim what made embracing his character easy or difficult.
“I think it’s all about this combination of having all your tools and experience, and it’s about preparation and really diving into what type of person this is,” Salim said.
Service members and veterans take part in a virtual meetup with the stars of “The Covenant,” Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim, at the USO on Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Friday, April 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Service members and veterans take part in a virtual meetup with the stars of “The Covenant,” Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim, at the USO on Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Friday, April 21, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Toward the end of the event, Kimmel and the other actors took a moment to thank service members for their sacrifice.
“You guys, especially those of you who are elsewhere, you’re away from your families and away from all the comforts of home so you can keep an eye on everything for us and you’re keeping us safe and secure,” Kimmel said. “We thank you, and we hope you get back very soon.”
The actors’ sentiments, along with Kimmel’s surprise appearance, made the event particularly unforgettable, said Carmen Williams, operations manager for USO Yokosuka.
“I definitely think this was one of the most fun virtual events I’ve ever done,” she said. “It was just cool to have him kind of pop in like that. They just want to share their love with us and let us know they care and support us, and it was just really cool.”
