On the red carpet for the premiere of the new film, White House Down — amid government representatives and the media — Maggie Gyllenhaal made some surprising comments.
Gyllenhaal, who plays a Secret Service agent in the film, said that being in Washington, D.C., for the premiere has made her realize how patriotic she really is.
“My high school American history is all coming back to me,” Gyllenhaal joked.
“The First Amendment carved in stone on the news museum is amazing,” she added. “It’s something that’s in my blood, I believe in that – and when it gets challenged, I get upset.”
Gyllenhaal was wearing a long, black designer gown, but she suggested that one of her accessorizes was even more special. She was carrying a clutch that looked to be made out of metal, and was woven so that its contents could be seen from the outside.
When asked about it, she told reporters, “maybe it has something to do with transparency.”
The politically active actress has previously voiced her opposition to the Iraq war and campaigned for the American Civil Liberties Union.
The guest list at the premiere included Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napolitano; former White House Chiefs of Staff Mark McLarty and John Podesta; Bill Clinton’s press secretary, Michael McCurry; former Secretary of the Navy John Dalton; National Security Advisors Juan Zarate and Tony Blinken; and Stephanie Cutter, President Obama’s deputy campaign manager in 2012.
In the film, a paramilitary terrorist group takes over the White House, and U.S. Capitol Police Officer John Cale (Channing Tatum), who was turned down for a job with the Secret Service, has to protect the President of the United States, James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx), and his daughter Emily (Joey King).
James Vanderbilt, who also wrote the 2012 version of The Amazing Spider-Man, said that the cast and crew worked with real Federal Bureau of Investigation agents to make the film more realistic.
“I did a few months of research as I was writing it,” Vanderbilt said. “Once we set up the movie … we went to the White House and the Capitol, we were able to talk to Secret Service agents and really dig into it.”
The film was directed by Roland Emmerich, who also directed The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and The Patriot.
White House Down comes out in theaters on Friday June 28, 2013.
