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Gyllenhaal makes surprise visit to theater

The Drexel and Penn students crammed into an overflow theater at the Rave Cinemas in University City on Saturday night have no idea what they're in for. Hollywood royalty in the house, y'all.

Jake Gyllenhaal drops in at a screening of his new movie "Nightcrawler" at the Rave theater in University City. (SCOTT WEINER)
Jake Gyllenhaal drops in at a screening of his new movie "Nightcrawler" at the Rave theater in University City. (SCOTT WEINER)Read more

The Drexel and Penn students crammed into an overflow theater at the Rave Cinemas in University City on Saturday night have no idea what they're in for. Hollywood royalty in the house, y'all.

The students are here for a free screening of Nightcrawler, a film with Jake Gyllenhaal that opens on Halloween. The passes they're clutching, downloaded from the movie website GoFobo.com, promise introductory remarks from Nightcrawler's first-time director, Dan Gilroy.

Then out from the wings pops Gyllenhaal. And, as they say in sports, the crowd goes wild.

"What a warm welcome," Gyllenhaal says slyly. "You weren't expecting me?"

Dressed super-cas in a black T and jeans, the actor speaks briefly about Nightcrawler, in which he plays a freelance cameraman who sells gory crime-scene footage to TV stations in Los Angeles. "This movie is pretty great. And it's pretty [screwed] up," he promises. "It's my favorite character I've ever played."

Then he wades into the crowd for a photo orgy. As Gyllenhaal climbs the aisle to the back of the theater, he disappears in a scrum of students who are holding their phones high above their heads, hoping to capture a selfie with the actor in the frame.

Down by the screen, a trio of young film geeks has surrounded Gilroy, who seems surprised by the attention. Clutching their arms tightly over their chests, the kids nervously take turns assuring the director that they are "so pumped to see this movie."

It's a surreal scene, springing an Oscar-nominated actor unannounced on a promotional student screening.

Afterward, during a brief interview at an adjacent restaurant, Gyllenhaal will explain his Philadelphia appearance, bookended by similar cameos in Boston and Washington.

"It's just fun," he says, then laughs. "It's just fun."

"If I came to see this movie and Jake came out," Gilroy adds, "I would be like 'Oh, my God, Jake Gyllenhaal is here.' It's like 'Somebody in the movie is now here in the theater. They crossed the fourth wall.' "

Both men realize that their project, which presents local news as blood and circus, is challenging, at times even disturbing.

"This is a movie that we made for very little. We shot it in 26 days in Los Angeles, a real run-and-gun shoot," says Gyllenhaal, 33. "Getting out the word to people requires some extra effort."

Back at the Rave, Gyllenhaal patiently and accommodatingly works his way back to the front of the theater. "Yo, Philly, I gotta go," he shouts to loud cheering.

There's a private jet idling at Philly International, and a mob of students queuing up at a theater in Georgetown, with no idea how exciting this Saturday night is going to become.

215-854-4875 @daveondemand_tv