THE FUSE

It’s 5 p.m. in South Korea, and Maggie Gyllenhaal has arrived at the Busan Cinema Center. Inside the theater, the lights dim as a crowd of journalists and fans settles in, notebooks and iPhones at the ready. Despite a 14-hour journey across the pond herself, the writer-director appears bright-eyed as she takes center stage. Her hair is cut into a simple, lightly mussed bob, side-parted just so; her nails are freshly lacquered cherry red. She cradles the microphone in one hand, the other tucked close to her waist. “In New York, it's like, four in the morning, so this is going to be the trippiest Q&A you guys have ever heard,” she laughs.