Jake and Maggie - Wonder Twins? Jake transformed into a weather pattern?

Well, this 'story' gathers pace. Yesterday WDW and everyone else reported that Jake was being hotly pursued by Warner Brothers to be one of the many stars in their superhero boiler Justice League of America extravaganza, due to begin shooting in 2008. According to another rumour, it was Maggie who was approached. This is less surprising considering that she is actually starring in a superhero movie. However, they don't want Maggie on her own, they want her to form one half of the amazing and awesome Wonder Twins, the other half being - of course - Jake Gyllenhaal.


I can see their reasoning. It's been a long time since Donnie Darko and I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to see Jake and Maggie appear together again, but these roles just sound so... I don't know how to describe them, so this is what one site has to say of the Wonder Twins:


'Zan can transform into any form of water, including liquid, mist, steam, or, perhaps most usefully, any kind of functioning ice structure. By combining with already-existing water, Zan could also increase his mass or volume in the water form chosen. In addition, he could transform himself into weather patterns involving water, such as a blizzard, a monsoon, or a typhoon.'

'Jayna can transform into any animal, whether real, mythological, or indigenous to Earth or to some other planet, like Beast Boy. She does need to know the name of the animal in order to assume its form, as she would turn into whatever animal she named.'



After seeing Jake as a Robert and a Douglas, I'm more than happy to see him as a Zan, but what would it be like to see him transformed into a 'functioning ice structure' or a weather pattern? I fear this could disguise his beauty. Maggie would clearly have to brush up on her zoological and mythological knowledge in order to transform into some interesting beasts.


I know this is all nonsense but, I have to admit, wouldn't it be fun! Also, this provides me with yet another reason for more Sporty Jake and some pictures of Jake and Maggie in mortal form.



Includes pictures from Just Jared and IHJ.

Jake: Don't jump in too fast - do the things you care about

I think I'd be disappointed if a week went by without a rumour regarding another future role for Jake Gyllenhaal and, true enough, this week's no different. This one's an unusual one and seems another take on Hollywood's yearning desire to get Jake into superhero spandex - I can see their point, but can Jake? This time it's Justice League of America, which presents almost every superhero and supervillain you can imagine in dire straits. (This story presents me with the perfect excuse to post pictures of Spandex Jake.)


Shooting by Warner Brothers is set to start in 2008 and the word is that they're after big names, and one of them is Jake. Other names linked to the colourful project - with very little evidence it seems to me - are Lawrence Fishbourne, Leo DiCaprio, Jessica Biel, Scarlett Johanssen and Mel Gibson. These days, if Jake wants a role, he just has to keep an eye on the internet and see what's being offered to him.


So what does Jake look for in a role? Here's an old quote from the dim and distant days of Donnie Darko. 'The truth is most of the films that make a lot of money no one remembers, and I'm not interested in making films that no one remembers. Whether it means they hated it so much they'll never forget it, or if it means they loved it so much that they won't. I'm less interested also in how it affects a career. The advice I've been given by a lot of people is: don't jump in too fast, do the things that you care about, and see what happens then.' Reading the rest of that interview, I would like to point out to Jake that I remember the 80s very well and I never heard anyone say 'rad'. It is interesting, this suggestion that Jake, at least then, didn't judge a project for what it would mean for the development of a career.


Curiously, in an article today about Broadway, successful director Lonny Price referred to Jake's hoped for role in Ferragut North. Lonny was asked if he approved of the boy band members and Hollywood names who toy with the stage. However, Lonny does not put Jake in this group: 'Jake Gyllenhaal's a wonderful actor, and I wish him well. The only time I think the Broadway community frowns is when it's just a name to be a name, and they're not skilled and not right for the role. And then that feels kind of cheap. I think movie stars are great. The more that want to come be on Broadway, that's just swell with me.'


Ang's cautionary tale

Ang Lee's Lust, Caution premieres on the same night as Rendition in Toronto (7th September) and this week Ang discussed the film in the New York Times, making comparison with his experience of Brokeback Mountain. Ang seems to suffer during the making of his films and, for Lust, Caution, he says he feared he was going insane. This film explores a whole different side to love, its dark and suspicious side. "Brokeback is about a lost paradise, an Eden. But this one — it’s down in the cave, a scary place. It’s more like hell." But like Brokeback, once Ang had read the story, he couldn't get it out of his head. '"At first I thought there’s no way I can make it a movie,” he said. But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. “There’s a point where I feel this is my story. It becomes a mission.”'


Rufus in Oz

Ang's not the only one to look back on his involvement with Brokeback Mountain. WDW favourite Rufus Wainwright is taking his tour to Australia in early 2008 - after his return to the UK for more dates at the close of 2007 - and the Australian press asked Rufus about the stars who have closed Between My Legs. One gets a special mention: "Jake is gorgeous," Wainwright says. "My boyfriend was very nervous. But we're still together. It was all above the belt." And of singing on the Brokeback soundtrack: "It was an important film. It's always good to screw up the mainstream. I think my job is to partly to screw up the mainstream and let the mainstream screw me. It's give and take." It's good to hear that a CD and DVD of one of the NYC shows is shortly to be released - I suppose it would be too much to hope...


And finally...

Maggie was in Chicago last week for some major public scenes for The Dark Knight - which caused not a little disturbance in the city by all accounts. But next Thursday morning, Maggie (and Hilary Swank) is scheduled to attend the Miss Sixty show for New York Fashion Week. Apparently the show has claimed a 10 am slot - the early hour could be a good thing if Maggie intends to hightail it over to Toronto in time to support her fiance Peter and brother Jake on Friday night.


Includes pictures from Psychologies magazine and IHJ.

Jake talks about Rendition - Production notes published

Hot on the heels of the release of the Rendition poster comes some more information from the publicity machine of New Line Cinema. Although there are no new pictures, what we have instead is a fascinating document, available for all to download, which gives us some more clues to the content of the film and some of the first indications from the actors themselves, including Jake Gyllenhaal, on what it was like to film Rendition and work with director Gavin Hood. I must thank Carla again for supplying the link - thank you!


So without giving away any of the plot beyond the obvious - ie, a CIA agent going through a crisis of confidence - what does Jake have to say? Gavin Hood mentions the fact that Rendition is a collection of mini-films almost, which will mean that the end result would have been a surprise to his actors as well as his audience. Gavin says: 'You have to keep everything in balance and let every storyline arc sufficiently because essentially you are making four or five short films and weaving them together. One of the challenges I found exciting was how to get the maximum emotional impact, the maximum plot and story impact in the least amount of time so that you keep your audience moving. That is a tremendous challenge from a storytelling point of view and very exciting because there is no room for fat.'


Jake adds, 'This production was unlike any other I’ve worked on. The Morocco shoot felt like its own separate movie, when in actuality it was just a small piece of a larger picture. I think when we finally see the film it will be exhilarating to see how Gavin has woven the different pieces together.'


It's confirmed that Jake's character, Douglas Freeman, is very much at the heart of Rendition. Gavin says: 'Jake had a very difficult role because Douglas in a way is the moral compass to the film. He’s an observer, much like the audience. He is the one character whose opinion on the question of rendition is ambivalent. You don’t know which way he is going to go or quite what he’s feeling as the events of the film unfold around him. Jake did a brilliant job of knowing that his role as an actor was to say and do very little, yet absorb and emotionally reflect a great deal.'


Jake comments that this role was entirely new to him: 'Douglas gets to be in the middle of the action, both emotionally and physically, with no real outlet -- and I found that kind of tension very exciting as an actor. I think many people in my generation are searching for something - their identity, who they are, what they want to do with their lives. This is where Douglas finds himself. When we first meet Douglas he has resigned himself to a sort of apathy, but he is quickly faced with a haunting reality that shakes him and forces him to face his own humanity. It makes him look into himself and find that thing he was searching for. At the end of the movie, he finds himself where he least expected it—which is ultimately tremendously rewarding for him and also for me as an actor.'


Gavin remarks that one of the fun things about the shoot is how international the cast and crew were. Jake agrees 'I think it is wonderful when you walk on the set and you have South Africans, and Moroccans, Americans and Brits. There is a real open heart here. I think that comes from Gavin Hood. I think every set Ive been on is defined by the director.'

Much of this confirms what we've heard from Jake before; the importance of the director-actor relationship and the search for meaning and truth in life. What is particular good to hear is Jake's apparent warm feeling for his role, his director and his film. We are in for a treat! Now, let's have a look at that poster again...


Includes pictures from IHJ and Cinematical.

Rendition - first look at the poster! And it's a goodie

We are geting close! The lack of a poster for Rendition, or much publicity at all bar a trailer, has been commented upon, but today we get our first look at the poster and I have to say I like it - not least because Jake Gyllenhaal's name tops the bill. And how good it is to see Jake on a poster with such people as Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep and Alan Arkin - great company indeed. Thanks very much to Carla for finding the link for us. Click and it shall be big.


Picture from Cinematical.

Ready for Jake on the red carpet? Rendition and films to make a difference

I don't know about you but I'm ready for another Jake Gyllenhaal red carpet experience and, thank heavens, we haven't long to wait. Only ten days to go until Friday 7th September and Rendition. Intriguingly, an online poll of Canadian filmgoers has been conducted by Sympatico/MSN Movies, which reveals the stars and films that most audiences are looking forward to seeing in Toronto.


We discover that 'most Canadians would rather bump into George Clooney (41%) over Matt Damon (33%) or Brad Pitt (26%) at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)'. Unfortunately, I can't find figures for Jake. Canadians also 'believe that Reese Witherspoon (49%) will wow the crowds over Kiera Knightley (28%) and Cate Blanchett (23%). As for the films themselves, Canadians are most excited to see Brad Pitt's flick The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (53%) over Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal's Rendition (33%) or Sean Penn's directorial effort, Into The Wild (14%).' I've got to say 33% doesn't sound at all bad for a movie abour extraordinary rendition. Here is an interesting article, at the same site, about The Terrors of TIFF, which, apparently, unites the globe in a gluttony of films.



Rendition and War of the Movies

Rendition is beginning to gain more attention and has featured in a number of newsites today, including the Guardian, in their lists of films to look out for in the Autumn and Fall of 2007. It seems that the Oscar nominees are expected from this bunch and, if you look at the lists, you can see why. It's good to see Heath's I'm Not There and Ang's Lust, Caution also in the lists.


Rendition has drawn extra attention because of its subject matter which, on the surface, may seem like an unusual choice for a traditionally conservative Hollywood but, this year, is one of several films which shows the studios may be at odds with US foreign policy. I'm going to look at this in more detail again, but here are coupl of new articles that draw attention to this new move in Hollywood, which looks to be taking the debate into the theatres.


The New York Post, in Another Vietnam, suggests the reason maybe because 'directors out in Cali figured that if President Bush refuses to read a newspaper, he might at least see a movie.' Rendition is one of several films this year which is not afraid to tackle terrorism and the US' relationship with the Middle East. The Sunday Times last Sunday reported on Hollywood Going to War and argues that 'Hollywood is taking a huge gamble here. Apart from some propagandist films made during the second world war, the studios have never tried targeting war so directly while American troops were still on the ground, and have shied away from making films, in the middle of a war, that could be seen as even slightly critical of the conduct of serving American soldiers.' Will American audiences pay to see films about war and unsavoury practices applied by the government in its fight against terror?


As the Edmonton Sun says in its article Tug of War: 'After months of escapist razzle-dazzle, Hollywood is set to do a sudden about-face, tackling the U.S. war on terror and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with an A-list roster of dramas starring some of the world's biggest stars. Remarkable? More like unprecedented. Hollywood has gone to war before, of course, but never have filmmakers dealt so nakedly -- and in such numbers -- with a conflict before its cultural wounds have healed. After all, it took years after the Vietnam had ended before Coming Home, The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now appeared in theatres. Moreover, the new war-themed projects are pointedly anti-war and anti-Bush -- nothing like the propaganda you could have expected in decades past.'


But what does an actor like Jake Gyllenhaal, or Reese Witherspoon, or Meryl Streep think about this when they sign on the dotted line? They must want to be in films audiences want to see, but they must also believe that some films and messages are worth the risk and will stand the testament of time and establishment disapproval, as well as audience apathy.

Includes pictures from IHJ.

Jake wins the popularity test - and Ang and Heath on Charlie Rose

With all this talk about Jake's progress through his career, from his wonderful debut as lead in October Sky back in 1999, through to Zodiac and now Rendition, I wanted to show this feature to you which, back in March 2007, heralded Jake Gyllenhaal as the perfect example of an actor who has done (nearly) everything right - the journalist's qualification not mine.


The article remarks on Jake's almost extraordinary popularity and a rather unusual method of measuring it: 'In case you’re unwilling to accept Gyllenhaal’s popularity, which is a good baseline measurement of his success, as a given, here’s a simple experiment you can even try at home. Do a Google search for the phrases “I hate Ben Affleck” and “I love Ben Affleck.” You’ll return about 3,000 results for the former and 37,500 results for the latter, giving you a love-hate ratio of 12.5 (for every person online who hates Ben Affleck, 12 love him).'


'The same test with Heath Ledger’s name results in a love-hate ratio of about 90. Now try it with “I hate/love Jake Gyllenhaal” — you’ll get 8,410 “love” results and only three (three!) “hate” results, for a staggering ratio of 2,803 people who love Mr. G to every one person who hates him.' So Jake wins the Google Test! I've not, incidentally, tried myself.

Whether due to Jake's own savviness or to the absolute dedication and committment of his people, Jake's choices have been near impeccable until now he is at a stage where he can choose between indie and mainstream and even make indie mainstream or make mainstream seem indie - if you get what I mean.


Ang and Lee on Charlie Rose, December 2005

Thanks to a good friend today for alerting me to the reappearance of a fine interview on YouTube. In December 2005, Ang Lee and Heath Ledger discussed Brokeback Mountain with great depth and feeling to Charlie Rose. Ang's sense of pride in the 'bravery' of his two young male leads is strongly evident. And he discusses with affection the filming of the first night in the tent scene when Heath and Jake were able to trust him, just inches from them, as they put themselves into their characters, as opposed to other actors in other love scenes who take pains to be separate from their roles. Ang notes that there were 13 or 14 takes of this scene, but number 7 was the wining number, for the take's combined energy and confidence. The scene was filmed, not surprisingly later in the shoot, when Jake and Heath could feel half way to be being real cowboys as well as comfortable together.


Lust, Caution

Ang's new film, Lust, Caution, continues to attract attention for its unusal 17 rating. An article today examines the reasons for this rating and finds them unhealthy. The writer makes comparison with Ang's previous movie Brokeback Mountain, which had been awarded an R rating even though, during the first sex scene, both men were fully clothed and, during the second love scene, Jake was without a shirt (surely a good thing in any movie!). The writer laments that "We're disgusted by sexuality, but enthralled by violence." Saw, and other violent films, have received R ratings, not 17 like Ang's film. He sees this as a reflection of 'America's puritan view of sexuality is potentially very damaging. If we continue to close our eyes to sex, we'll teach the next generation and generations to come that sex is something to be feared, not celebrated. And the MPAA's message that sex is far dirtier than extreme violence may contribute to rising levels of violence in schools, the workplace and society.'

It's worth mentioning here that the gala showing of Ang's film in Toronto is the same night as Rendition, September 7, and in the same theatre. A meeting between Ang and Jake on the night seems a tantalising hope.


The Movie-Fanatic

I've linked WDW today to The Movie-Fanatic which, not only is contributed to by a good friend of this site, Jantoinette, but it also supports Jake and other cutting edge actors. There's also a poll in which you can vote for Jake every time you pop by. I suggest you do as Jake is currently losing out bigtime to Cillian Murphy. It's an interesting and goodlooking site which focuses on some real names to watch in terms of actors and films.


And a final thing...

The DVD featuring the best of Saturday Night Live 2006/2007 is released tomorrow and, judging by some of the reviews, Jake is the best thing on it.


Includes pictures from IHJ.

The promise of Jake - October Sky (continued)

We've been enjoying a discussion about October Sky, Jake's inspirational film from the dawn of his career in 1999, and, coincidentally, the film has been included in an article today in the Chicago Sun-Times e-newspaper, the Daily Southtown. This feature (which typicaaly now seens refiled on their website) has been prompted by the tragedy of the mine collapse in Utah on August 6, and selects October Skies, and films such as How Green Was My Valley and North Country, as examples of how filmmakers portray the reality of this most dangerous of professions and environments. (The pictures in this post are from the 2nd Annual Bridge Awards 2002 - held on 1 October 2001 - and the Movieline Young Hollywood Awards - held on 5 May 2002.)


Although many coalmines are now closed, due to economic and not human factors, films such as October Sky continue to be relevant as long as men work in the pits and their familes wait for them to return safely home. The comments to yesterday's post show that I am not the only person here proudly descended from good coalmining stock and, therefore, particularly and personally affected by watching Jake Gyllenhaal as Homer Hickam descend into the dirty dark pit. There was too much to say yesterday, so this is part two - please forgive the indulgence!


Aside from the value of October Sky as a reminder of the daily challenges and risks some face every working day of their lives, the film also resonates for its examination of the father and son relationship - it's not overly dramatic, there is right and wrong on both sides as Homer and John (Chris Cooper) endeavour, and usually fail, to understand one another. Here is a review from 1999: 'The relationship between father and son in October Sky is at times painful to watch. There are no winners or losers when sons go their separate ways. October Sky does not illustrate good parenting; rather, it evokes the realization that since parents have only a limited vision of how to shape their children's future, the job requires a huge amount of love and a lot of divine assistance.'


But almost above all else, October Sky is significant because it shows us the promise of Jake. Although a teenager and understandably enthusiastic at winning his first leading role, the young Jake was conscious of the real opportunites this film offered him. 'I think especially in this movie working with Laura Dern and Chris Cooper, when you work with people like that you get something from it. It's like a perpetual learning experience. It's like playing with a pro tennis player and they hit a ball and they hit a ball so hard and you just put up the racket up and you hit it back to them with so much force even though you don't do that much. Working with Chris Cooper there was that teaching. We would finish a scene and he always told me never have any regrets. We'd go through the first couple of takes of the scene and he'd come up and talk to me and told me" I don't think your listening to me " I said -"ok". I think that's the essence of acting really is listening, and I think being young and naive and green and all that stuff, you are not going to be able to do that all the time. I think regardless of age and experience, no one can do that all the time. So he would guide me through that.'


That October Sky should withstand passing years should not be surprising considering its inspirational message. As Jake said: 'I think what I liked about the script the most, like I said before, it was the metaphor of the dream and no matter how isolated someone is, they can fulfill their dream with passion and perseverance. And also what I wanted to play because this character has such a range of emotions and it really fascinated and interested me, and it's such the opposite of who I am as a person. And it intrigued me. I think the target audience is hopefully everybody. I don't think it's the kind of movie that's targeted to one specific audience, it can touch people of all ages.'


In 2001, it was clear that Jake was going to be not only a great movie star, but a sex symbol. Proving that you can never be too cute to be weird, Jake impressed his interviewer for having that 'certain whatever-it-is that spells stardom.' The feature ends by saying 'A self-professed "odd, wacky, weird kid" growing up, Gyllenhaal, 20, is playing the same kinds of characters. And that’s fine by him: "There should be more movies that say, ‘So you’re going through some abnormal shit? Hey, it’s just a part of growing up. Feeling like an oddball is OK.'"

Finally, in this look at Jake's earliest film while we await his latest, here's an article that dates from the filming of October Sky. Time had moved on and Coalwood in West Virginia had gone. Film makers instead had to look to Petros in East Tennessee and this feature looks at the town's transformation by Hollywood and shows what a good job was done.

Kind of going off topic in an on topic kind of way...


The picture above is gratuitous - I just like it!

Includes pictures from IHJ.

You made an astronaut who went to the moon cry, Jake

If I can persuade one person to go off and watch October Sky as a matter of urgency, then I've done my bit for Jake Gyllenhaal today. I watched this film today for the first time in a long time, since before Brokeback Mountain, and every single one of its 108 minutes was a joy and pleasure. It also reminded me, not that I needed it, that Jake's genius and sheer magnetism should not have been a surprise to anyone in Brokeback Mountain, not if you'd seen Donnie Darko and not if you'd seen October Sky.


Filmed when Jake was just 17 and just becoming a man, he still manages to convey a young lifetime of feeling in his portrayal of Homer Hickam, particularly when Jake's character engages with his mother, teacher and especially his father. When Homer sees Sputnik flying over his coal mining town in West Virginia, he is inspired, and watching this movie, I am inspired by Jake. Jake conveyed perfectly what it means to catch a glimpse of a way out, almost literally, from a very bleak and extremely dangerous fate, down the coal mine. While Homer's father, almost a legend among the men he works with, looked down into the ground, Homer looked up and worked out his escape route with mathematical formulae and rocket science.


Since watching October Sky, I've been doing some reading about the film and about the real Homer Hickam, and trying to uncover what this role meant for Jake at a pivotal time in his life, choosing to go ahead and follow his own dream of being a movie star.


In the documentary that accompanies the DVD, Laura Dern, who plays the inspirational teacher Miss Riley, reflects that this was a special time for Jake and that he was "in constant discovery. He has a passion and interest, which I think is paralleled in Homer, so it's really fun and moving to watch." The real Homer muses about Jake that "He looks like how I looked in my high school days in my dreams! He's a great kid. I only wish I'd been that sharp."

Elsewhere Homer is reported as saying 'that if he had been as good looking as the actor (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the movie, he might have got more material and retitled his book 'Rocket Boys and Girls'." Homer says that before the making of the movie, he invited Jake to stay with him: "I invited Jake to West Virginia. I told him he might hitchhike there like we did a lot of when we were kids. I told him he could stop at any house and they'd take him in and take care of him. West Virginians are really good people."


In the accompanying DVD documentary, Jake expresses some of the doubt he felt in his own ability to play a living, breathing person: "I think it's really hard to live up to the person that really went through this. I'm trying my hardest to do the best that I can. But I've had a great relationship with Homer, with the real Homer. I'm talking with him, figuring out what really happened, how he felt at certain times."


Jake described his very own 'achieving his dream' experience - ie, winning this role - in an interview for Good Morning Arizona (link at bottom of feature): "I came home from school,uh, at the end of the day, and he (his dad) walked up to me,and he said now I want you to finish school. And I didn't understand what he was talking about. What, OK I'll finish school, and he said I want you to finish school. I want you to get an education, and you got the part. And I remember raising my hands up higher than they've ever gone, and then just slamming them down on the counter. And them throbbing red, ( smiling) like with excitement. A just I couldn't really explain how I felt at that moment except the sheer joy of being able to fulfill a dream that I've always had... It's like that first rocket goes up and I, his, my hands are throbbing. It's like the same thing." Just like Homer.


We get a little glimpse of Jake's pride in this film and his relationship with Homer if we visit Homer's website because there on a page of fanmail is an email from Jake. "I wanted you guys to see this... "October Sky is a gem! It is about rocketry, coal mining and family. It is about fathers and sons. It is an engrossing, great movie that will live in your memory forever." -- Larry King, USA TODAY. Love, Jake." Homer publishes his response: "Email to Jake from Homer; Jake - we had an excellent screening of the film Tuesday night at the MPAA in Washington. The Administrator of NASA, his eyes red-rimmed with tears, even hugged me afterwards! It was, of course, really you he was hugging in absentia. An Apollo astronaut was there, too - also teary. You made an astronaut who went to the Moon cry, Jake! Homer." This gives a lovely picture of a young Jake reading the reviews of his movie, and spreading them around. This website page is well worth a read as it is full of personal anecdotes about the real people in the movie, life in a small town, the first rockets and responses to the film.



When Jake publicised October Sky, all that time ago in 1999, Jake appeared in an online chat and this is an absolute treat: Jake really does write LOL after and before a lot of his answers, almost a practised Forum member! Here are some of the questions and answers:

Question: Have you ever wanted to be an astronaut?
Jake Gyllenhaal: Wow, yeah, definitely. It was around the same period when I wanted to be a fireman or a policeman, and it sort of died for me at the age of twelve. But yeah, everyone kind of has a dream to go up into space. It's one of those generic dreams, I guess.



Jake did a gig! Q: Do you ever think of coming back to Los Angeles to do a gig at the Whiskey A-Go-Go?
Jake: Yeah, of course. I'd love to. It was wonderful when I played there before and hopefully I'll do it again. Right now I'm playing by myself and I'd have to get some other musicians to play with me to do something like that, but it would be wonderful if we could.

Q: Do you think that your part as pharaoh was your lead to stardom?
Jake: LOL It was definitely a highlight of my very short career! LOL
(If anyone can explain the above, credits awarded)

Q: What did you like best about being on Rosie O'Donnell today?
Jake: The fact that I wasn't on it.


Q: I thought you were great in October Sky. I wanted to know... what kind of music are you into? If you weren't an actor, what would you be?
Jake: I would be dead if I wasn't an actor. But I really like Bela Fleck. I really like the soundtrack to Rushmore. That's great. My friend is actually in that movie... and I like the new Beck album.
(Sounds like Jake knows exactly what he wants to do)

OnlineHost: Are you single and what do you look for in a girlfriend?
Jake: Yes, I'm single. Oh God, someone who's witty, someone who challenges me, kicks my butt sometimes. And someone who respects my life and my work and who I respect in the same way. When it happens, it happens, and I'll probably be blown away by who the person is anyway.


Here is a link to the rest, and to a transcript of Jake's appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1999, as well as the Good Morning Arizona snippet mentioned above. I had quite a bit more to say about October Sky, but I've gone on more than long enough, so I guess this is 'To be continued....' PS, I must be extremely dim but I've only just found out that October Sky is an anagram of Rockets Boys - er, LOL as Jake would say.

Includes pictures from IHJ.