“I know my price, I am worth no worse a place,” the villainous Iago declares in “Othello” — and judging by Jake Gyllenhaal’s over-the-top dressing room renovation, the actor currently playing the Shakespearean villain on Broadway feels the same.
Gyllenhaal recently took Architectural Digest inside his spectacularly appointed backstage space at the Barrymore Theatre, and suffice to say, we may now know why tickets to the production are going for up to $900.
“The BAFTA winner has a soft spot for design, evidenced by his role as an ambassador for the luxury Italian porcelain purveyor Ginori 1735, so, naturally, he was inclined toward an elevated approach for the short-term dwelling,” AD’s Charlotte Collins writes.
That’s a bit of an understatement; in addition to coffee cups from the tableware brand’s Oriente Italiano collection, which will set you back $170 each, Gyllenhaal’s dressing room boasts a $5,900 La Marzocco espresso machine, over $6,000 worth of artwork by Joel Tomlin and — perhaps wildest of all — a $19,000 handmade chess set by Minjae Kim accompanied by a duo of the designer’s chairs (one light, the other dark) meant to reflect the play’s racial themes.
The “Road House” star, who brought in Ruby Kean and Lisa Jones of Atelier LK to design the room, also sourced a number of pieces from Somerset House: a $9,000 modernist sofa, $18,000 set of bentwood barrel chairs by Josef Hoffman for J & J Kohn and a 19th century French coffee table worth $22,000. (It’s worth noting that all of those items are also available to rent — perhaps that’s what Gyllenhaal did?)
Visitors to the actor’s backstage haven can also feast their eyes on several items from Sophie Lou Jacobsen, among them a $9,200 pendant light and $8,600 floral-motif mirror.
“I would never claim to try and be a dramaturge here, but I do think the materials that they picked — both soft and tough, the danger, and the comfort — all these juxtapositions are very, very right for the themes of ‘Othello,’” Gyllenhaal told the outlet.
Unfortunately, it seems the lavish renovation wasn’t quite enough to lure Denzel Washington, who plays the titular character, for a pre-show hang.
“Denzel’s made his way up there a couple of times, but just through the nature of him being the general, I tend to go to his room,” the actor admitted.
