Presumed Innocent star Jake Gyllenhaal talks taking over for "incomparable" Harrison Ford: "We’re talking about legends"

Presumed Innocent star Jake Gyllenhaal says there's no comparison when it comes to his and Harrison Ford's portrayals of prosecutor Rusty Sabich.

"I come from a theater where actors play other actors' roles or vice versa. The role exists and then you come in and you play it. So it's very funny to me to have even the comparison, though I know it's probably inevitable to me," Gyllenhaal tells GamesRadar+. "It was a character written by David E. Kelley and so is very much a character in his mind. I just happen to play another character. And the last movie I did where Patrick Swayze played [that character]... it's incomparable. We're talking about legends and people who originated characters that we love."

The new Apple TV Plus show Presumed Innocent marks the second adaptation of Scott Turow's bestselling legal thriller novel of the same name, with the first being the massively successful 1990 feature film starring Ford, Brian Dennehy, Raúl Juliá, Bonnie Bedelia, and Greta Scacchi. David E. Kelley, creator of popular dramas like Boston Legal, Big Little Lies, and The Lincoln Lawyer, serves as showrunner and headwriter.

Gyllenhaal stars as Rusty, a renowned attorney whose colleague and mistress is found murdered in her home. Rusty's fingerprints and 30-something text messages to her on the night of make him the prime suspect. The cast includes Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, Peter Sarsgaard, Lily Rabe, Nana Mensah, Chase Infiniti, O-T Fagbenle, Matthew Alan, and Gabby Beans. David E. Kelley (The Lincoln Lawyer, Big Little Lies) writes and directs with J.J Abrams producing under his Bad Robot Productions banner.

"I don't look to them to try and give a performance like them. I would never, I just tried to do my thing and really because it's a different form, there's just so much more tension and so much more intensity in this show because of the modernity of it," Gyllenhaal continues. "You know, you're many decades later in that way where like technology is different. Like socially things are different. There's so much difference that it's very hard to kind of make any comparison. But I just tried to do my thing. The truth is no one could beat his haircut. It's a great haircut. I was just like, 'Damn man, he got the best one. He got the best Rusty haircut,' you know?"

Presumed Innocent is set to hit Apple TV Plus on June 12. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2024 and beyond.