Sunday 10 June 2007

Jake Gyllenhaal - Climbing the ladder to superstardom

It doesn't seem any time at all since we heard Jake saying that he doesn't put much store on sexiest men polls. That's fair enough and I can see his point but there are polls and there are polls and there are some you just want Jake to be on. This weekend, the very popular and arguably pretty influential celebrity-watching PopSugar announced its first ever list of the world's top 100 celebrities and Jake made it to number 34. I know we all want and know he deserves top spot but young Jake is climbing that ladder and next year - after Rendition - who knows which rung he will have reached.


This top 100 is the result of three months' of voting by readers and is based on the following criteria: likability, talent, style, class looks and the elusive pop factor. Readers were presented with profile pages (including photos, videos, stories and other information) of 300 celebrities from all walks of fame and had to judge them in each of these categories. These results were then added to PopSugar's pop factor rating. According to the site, more than 4 million votes were cast. Here's Jake's profile page.


The results: not surprisingly, for a myriad of reasons, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were numbers 1 and 2. PopSugar's Editor-in-Chief Lisa Sugar noted, "Brad and Angelina are a combination of everything an A-list celebrity today entails. Looks, talent, charity and family have made this couple the most talked about celebrities this year. Even their peers are star-struck by the couple who have re-defined what it means to be A-list. To us, this is the definition of celebrity." Rounding out the Top 10 list are Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Johnny Depp.'

And at a very respectable number 34, there's Jake, but that is just the beginning.


Pictures from IHJ.

21 comments:

welliwont said...

Well I would say #34 is pretty respectable, but of course personally I think he should be way higher.

To look at it from a diff perspective, there are nine male actors rated higher than Jakey, he is 10th. Of those ten, Jakey is the youngest, and the next closest in age to him is Leo DiCaprio( 32 yrs). The rest of them are at least a decade older than Jakey:

1. Brad Pitt
5. Tom Cruise
9. George Clooney
10. Johnny Depp
14. Leonardo DiCaprio
15. Jack Nicholson
18. Will Smith
24. Robert De Niro
32. Bruce Willis
34. Jake Gyllenhaal

There is one male celebrity in Jake's age range:

12. Justin Timberlake (26 yrs)

So, I think this is interesting, Jakey is the hottest male actor of his age range if we count Leo in a diff age range. Of course I guess this was already evident. Oh, and Orlando Bloom? He's #58 (30 yrs old).

Anonymous said...

Interesting list. And we could discuss endlessly about some of the names ..(Spears, Hilton, and Jennifer Aniston among the first 10??)

IMO No 34 is quite good. I did a search who is BEHIND Jake and there are some names which I would have assumned are higher on the list.

And if I am correct, Jake is the YOUNGEST guy among those 100.

Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Johnny Depp (to name the three "musketeers") all had roles in TV shows when they were in Jakes age. None of them had an Oscar nom or a Bafta.

IMO Jake tries to build up a long lasting, high profile career - he is young and I am happy that not everyone knows him yet (makes him more special - I like when people are asking "Who is that hot looking guy on your desktop?")

He has worked with some very well respected directors and colleagues and I am very hopeful for his future career.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Welliwont, I see, you did also a bit research.....:-))

welliwont said...

Ok, now looking at the rest of the list, all male actors coming after Jakey are older, the closest in age to Jakey being Ashton Kutcher. (I guess you could say he's an actor, bwahahahahaha *choke*cough*gasp*)

Here are the rest of the male actors:

35. Clint Eastwood
37. Al Pacino
39. Jim Carrey
41. Matthew McConaughey (37 yrs)
43. Robin Williams
45. Harrison Ford
46. Denzel Washington
49. Matt Damon (36)
50. Ben Affleck (34)
53. Eddie Murphy
55. Samuel L Jackson
56. Richard Gere
58. Orlando Bloom (30)
60. Adam Sandler (40)
61. Ashton Kutcher (29)
66. Ben Stiller (40)
70. Morgan Freeman
73. Dustin Hoffman
74. Nicolas Cage
76. Will Ferrell
80. Anthony Hopkins
83. Jude Law (34)
84. Hugh Grant
90. Russell Crowe
91. Tom Hanks
93. Jamie Foxx (39)
98. Owen Wilson (38)
99. John Travolta
100. Patrick Dempsey

welliwont said...

Good grief Carla :-) you and I had the same idea!! hahahaha. OK, so now what else can we extract from this data? Jakey is the youngest best greatest up-and-coming actor of his generation? (According to the PopSugar voters, hahahaha!)

Hmmm......

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hey Welliwont and Carla - what great research. I feel like I'm looking at the list in a whole new way now.

I hadn't realised, Welliwont, that Jake is the 10th actor - that's good going indeed for someone so young. That's very respectable company. I'd noticed that about Orlando.

Carla that's very interesting about the different roles that some of these older actors took to the moviestardom and, as you say, at Jake's young age several of these would have been unheard of.

It's remarkable what Jake has achieved and the level of respect he's earned is also astounding. The fact that directors and actors of the highest calibre want to work with Jake is testament to what is expected from him in the future.

Thanks to both of you for those posts :D

Anonymous said...

Jake's in good company on that list! While we know he's No. 1, I want to take my time enjoying the process of his rise to the top. I want to enjoy his choices of thought-provoking films, his working with great directors, and his just being the socially and politically aware person that he is. :)

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Oh my word, I was just writing a post thanking you guys and then I finish and there's more! So yes I'm interested too to hear what other conclusions you're going to draw!

Thanks for doing that list Welliwont :D I'm surprised people like Tom Hanks and Nicholas Cage are so low in the list when they're popular in the box office (not necessarily with me, I might add). This must be the mystery pop factor they were talking about!

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hi Marina :D It's so great knowing we're going to have such a long time enjoying Jake's rise to the top, and we'll look back on these days...;D

welliwont said...

Well I think it will be nice when Jakey receives admiration, recognition and respect from the masses, the one thing that I will mourn greatly is his loss of freedom. If only he could have the best of both worlds. I sure hope he never has a life like Pitt-Jolie, that would be a BIG drag. Being number one would suck.

Anonymous said...

His future status also depends on his decisions - films like ZODIAC and (hopefully) Rendition will earn him respect, excellent critics but those are not the films that are mass-compatible (does that word exist in English??)

Then he would have to chose a role in one of the Bat-, Spider- or Superman movies or another Blockbuster. Maggie and Heath are doing it...I am not sure that I want this for Jake...and if that means he will never be No 1 in those lists, I think I can live with it.

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hi Carla

I agree - I really don't want jake to be the lead in a franchise like that - not a superhero franchise. It's different for Maggie as she's not playing the lead and so won't be typecast. There is one franchise exception in my mind for Jake - I love the idea of him in some sort of Indiana Jones movie! (Must be the leather hat and whip...)

I think Rendition is going to be a very important film for Jake - more so than Zodiac - and a lot will depend on what he takes on after it. He'll be aware of that, hence no decision made yet.

Welliwont - I really want Jake to avoid the pitfalls (no pun intended) that have dogged Brad and Angelina (not that they've been entirely innocent in all this).

Anonymous said...

Thats funny - "Raiders of the lost ark" is one of my alltime favourite films....I had the (very small) hope that Jake would play a nephew, friend or lost son of Indy in part 4 and in the end Harrison Ford would hand over the hat and whip ....a girl can dream :-)))

I agree with Rendition - this will be a difficult, controversial film and maybe a kind of turning point for him....

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hey Carla - I had hopes for a while that Jake would be in this new 4th film, especially when I heard that the love interest was supposed to be Natalie Portman (don't know if that's still true or not).

I would love one film with an intelligent and witty script where we can see Jake running around and saving the day and winning the day. Then he can get back to the serious stuff and all the Oscar nominations ;D

Rendition - the activity and not the film - has been in the UK news quite a bit recently. This is going to be topical and - as you say - controversial film. Can't wait.

Wet Dark and Wild said...

oops when I said 'winning the day' I meant

winning the GIRL!

:D

Anonymous said...

When the rumors came out that Tobey Macguire may not do another Spiderman movie, there was some talk that the director was eyeing Jake to take on the Spiderman role....I have to agree with most as well, that I would rather that Jake not do a lead in a superhero type movie. Yet, who knows what Jake may have in store for his movie viewing fans!

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hi Anon - thanks for commenting.

I have to agree with you. I'm so relieved that in the end Jake didn't get the Spidey job. We are in for treat after treat I'm sure of it :)

Anonymous said...

Great research, quite interesting! I, too, am glad Jake hasn't played a superhero. Well, unless you want to include Donnie Darko. :-) I also hope he NEVER stoops to doing commercials. Ever! His choices to date are a huge part of his appeal.

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hi Beckela - Jake in a commercial - what a terrible thought!!!

Anonymous said...

Let's see Rendition. It is a pity that the secrety agents in films are more successiful than in reality. Nowadays this CIA agents are kidnapping a lot of "suspicious people" everywhere in the world but they can't get the real terrorists!!!

Wet Dark and Wild said...

Hi Cristiane

Like you, I can't wait for Rendition. I think it's going to be something special - and not a little controversial.

Thanks for commenting! :D