Jake Gyllenhaal takes on his first major TV role in new Apple TV+ drama Presumed Innocent, which is based on the novel of the same name by Scott Turow.

The novel was previously adapted into a film in 1990 starring Harrison Ford but, when speaking with RadioTimes.com exclusively, Gyllenhaal said that the new show is “totally different” to the movie.

He said: “I’d seen the film, I’d seen the film more than once. It came out in the early ’90s so I didn’t see it when it first came out,

but I saw it on television at a different time. And in preparation for this, I did read the book.

“But ultimately, David was writing something totally different. And we started with the pilot, when we first started shooting we only had the first two episodes.”

He continued: “We were given them as we went along, so I was in the dark as to what I was doing until I was fed into, I’ve never had that experience before.

“Many people in television have that often, but I never had and so to me, it didn’t give me much time to really go back. It was really that material was the thing I was looking at, and using as my Bible.”

Like the book and the film before it, this new version of Presumed Innocent follows Rusty Sabich, the chief deputy prosecutor in Chicago who finds himself as the prime suspect in the murder case of his colleague and former lover.

The series also stars Ruth Negga, Peter Sarsgaard, Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, O-T Fagbenle, Renate Reinsve and Nana Mensah.

Speaking with RadioTimes.com, Gyllenhaal also explained what it was that drew him to star in the role of Rusty in the first place.

He said: “First of all, it coming from David Kelly and JJ Abrams, which was an interesting pairing and two behemoths in the television space. So that, and then I read the pilot and when I got to the end of it I wanted to know what happens next. It was super intriguing and so that really drew me in initially.

“And then I also just thought, ‘What a predicament for this character to be in’, you know? There’s so many ways and avenues in which this could go. And I thought, ‘Isn’t that kind of what you want?’

“If you can populate it with incredible performers, which they ended up doing, just an extraordinary cast, then you’re able to play in all of the complications of this sort of Greek tale that he’s laid out, and that really made me want to do it.

“And then also really try my hand at long form storytelling in that way, as a performer. I’ve never told an eight hour story before, and I was really intrigued by the prospect of that.”

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Source: Tampa Bay Times