Jake Gyllenhaal fulfilled a dream by working with Michael Bay on 'Ambulance'.

The 41-year-old star plays Danny Sharp in the new action thriller, which follows a pair of adoptive siblings who hijack an ambulance and take two paramedics hostage while completing a bank robbery, and explained that he wanted to experience the 'Transformers' filmmaker's "bombastic" style firsthand.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Jake said: "I always wanted to make a movie with Michael Bay. I'm drawn to filmmakers and their vision of the world – they're all so varying and different. I've heard so many things about the way Michael Bay makes movies. You know, the bullhorn, the bombastic behaviour and all this stuff. And I was like, 'Ooh, what's that like?'

The 'Zodiac' star continued: "I've had the privilege of being able to make many movies, and I have had the privilege to work with some incredible filmmakers. The one thing I've learned is that they all speak in different languages because they're all such individuals. So that's basically what it was about, was getting to work with (Bay)."

Jake's co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II revealed that the "tension" in the story was a key reason for him joining the cast.

The 35-year-old actor said: "I knew that it was a short and fast shoot – I'd be working with Michael Bay and Jake Gyllenhaal, and I was just excited about that opportunity.

"I was actually working on 'The Matrix' at the time that this came in my box. This was pitched to me as Michael's small movie. He said it's not about action; it's about tension.

"And I knew he would dress the world outside of the ambulance, but I was really interested in what was going on inside of the ambulance, and that's where we see a lot of the tension play out."