Jake: 'I'm a bit of a sarong boy'

While Jake and Reese enjoy themselves sampling the food and drink of California's beautiful Napa Valley, one of WDW's favourite places, we get the chance to take a breather and hark back to Jake of days gone old. In the days before Jake made Brokeback Mountain, when many regarded him as the Indie It Boy and were fascinated by his ability to be both cute and 'weird' at the same time, Jake displayed his continuing knack to say things that intrigued and amused interviewer and reader alike. So here are a few glimpses of Jake from the past.


In the summer of 2004, Minneapolis' Star Tribune stirred up their readers with the promise of a visit by Jake: 'Be on the lookout for a possible Jake Gyllenhaal sighting. In an interview Monday on FOX9, "The Day After Tomorrow" star said a trip to visit relatives may bring him here. If he brings along Spider-Man's girlfriend, Kirsten Dunst, who is dating Gyllenhaal in real life, and his sister, actor Maggie Gyllenhaal, we could end up being Hollywood-Midwest for a few days. "I'm hopefully going to come out and see my uncle [Anders Gyllenhaal, Star Tribune editor] and his family," Gyllenhaal told Buzz Boy Jason Matheson.


'It would be Gyllenhaal's first trip to the Twin Cities. Dunst knows her way around, having filmed "Drop Dead Gorgeous" here. Buzz encouraged Gyllenhaal to call the local gossip columnist when he comes here. "I'll make sure to do that," Gyllenhaal said, unconvincingly. When there were audio difficulties at the start of the satellite interview, Gyllenhaal pantomimed, "Good morning, Minneapolis!" and displayed some of that self-effacing charm that has made him the darling of indies. Instead of Buzz, Gyllenhaal was hearing sound from a talk show. "What is this, Maury Povich?" he asked. This Gyllenhaal has a well-defined personality. For example, when responding to questions about his Oprah-size noggin, he said there's been a lot of misunderstanding on this matter. "It's not that it's a big head. It's just that it's an abnormally sized head. Hard to fit a hat around. If you asked my uncle, I'm sure it runs in the family. We should get some disability for it."'


In May 2004, Jake elaborated to the Scottish Daily Record on the famous anecdote of being taught to drive by Paul Newman: 'well, yes. I went to the track with him and he took me out in a race car. He taught me the things that could go wrong. When I eventually got my licence, he was at our house cooking steaks and had a knife in his hand. When I came in, he made me go down on one knee, knighted me and gave me my licence.'


Let's finish with a happy thought - in 2004 Jake was quoted in the UK's Sunday Mail as saying: 'I'm a bit of a sarong boy. I wear them at home all through the summer and I go commando shocking, isn't it?'


Pictures from Getty. Articles from the WDW archives - if I find online links, I'll post them.