How about Natalie? Hairy Jake Gyllenhaal, ultimate male hottie and That Sweater

Remember the summer - how we waited (not that patiently perhaps) for Jake to finish his summer holiday and come back to us? Well, now we have less than three weeks to the release of Rendition in the US and the UK and everyday seems like a good Jake day. I've never enjoyed a summer's end so much. So for today, here is a recap of what's been going on in just the last 24 hours.



Mischa out, Natalie in

It was always going to be the case that speculation would be intense concerning the female lead in Brothers. A rumour last week put Mischa Barton in the role - the new rumour, allegedly from the mouth of director Jim Sheridan himself, is that Jake's good friend Natalie Portman may be in the running. Jim apparently said this to Jeffrey Wells, often a good source, so although I'm still pinching salt I am going to allow myself a few moments of hoping this is true. It would definitely make for a fun shoot for Jake, which can only be a good thing. I also relish the opportunity to post pictures (taken over the last 5 years) of Jake and Natalie together.



It also seems that while Jim is going for youthful actors, Tobey's height may be a bit of an issue: 'Sheridan said he wants the trio to be younger than they were in Bier's film. The only problem is that the 5 foot, 8-inch tall Maguire is 4 inches shorter than Gyllenhaal, who stands six feet. This violates the general biological rule that brothers are either roughly the same height or no more than two inches apart. My brother Tony and I are about an inch apart, if that, and my younger son Dylan is 6' 4" to Jett's 6'2" -- you'll rarely see brothers who are 3 or 4 inches apart.'


You belong to me, Like a very hairy Jake Gyllenhaal to me

It's been so good to see Andy Samberg and SNL's love song to Iran's president Mahmoud 'In Iran we don't have homosexuals' Ahmadinejad sweeping round the net today, with the vast majority of commentors enjoying the humour and cameos of the lovely Adam Levine and the even lovelier Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake puts his beard to good use, giving it a scratch before sticking his fingers up in gestures that, in the UK at least, don't mean Victory. The video may not stay on YouTube for long so enjoy it while you can!



Rendition Press Day

As we reported here just yesterday, last Friday was Rendition's Press Day. Confirmation of that came today in a rather curious way. My old favourite, the Chicago Sun-Times, revealed that Britney Spears has been doing her best to be photographed on a daily basis with the biggest celebrities. Her mission last Friday, on discovering it was Rendition press day, was to be seen with Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon, reasoning that paps could not be far away. But Britney was unsucessful: 'A harried staffer at the Four Seasons told me she purposely told the entertainer "we were holding a [press] junket here for 'Rendition,' " starring Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, who allegedly have been having a fling. In fact, those interviews took place Friday at the Beverly Wilshire, so when Spears arrived at the Four Seasons, there were no paparazzi to be seen.' But never mind Britney, I really want to see/hear some of these interviews.


Jake's dinner with Peter

Over the last couple of days we've seen pictures of paps making it difficult for Jake to leave a 'private party', flashing their cameras at him as he tried to drive away. Well, for those who want to see it, here is a video of those moments, showing that they even filmed Jake inside the restaurant where he appears to be dining with Peter Sarsgaard. So no private party at all, just dinner, not in peace. And because some sites don't check the facts, Jake can't even dine with Peter without insinuation. Jake handles the whole matter like the consummate professional he is.


Jake an ultimate male hottie (1990s to 2007)

On a happier note, Jake is in another poll - Entertainment Weekly is gathering votes to crown the ultimate male hottie of the last 17 years. Jake has some competition, including the usual and predictable candidates - George Clooney, Colin Farrell, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Hugh Grant, Christian Bale, etc, etc - but can there be any choice? Jake is way behind lead Christian Bale and is currently in 7th place so there is work to be done, my friends.


And finally...

... the sweater. There was much fun and games yesterday when it was noted by some eagle-eyed Gyllenhaalics and Heathens that Jake's sweater on the cover of Interview magazine looked extremely similarly to one worn by Heath in 2006. So here are the pictures for you to judge yourself - looks pretty similar to me!



Includes pictures from IHJ.