Friends and mentors

Yesterday's post, which featured a very young Jake Gyllenhaal discussing his freshman year at Columbia University, reminded me that, although Jake left his college career behind, he continues to carry the legacy of his school, Harvard-Westlake. And his school continues to support him - his teacher Ted Walch has been there each step of the way.


In December 2004, Jake gave a talk at a Harvard-Westlake Entertainment Event (looking extremely Swoffy), which paid tribute to Walch's instruction while Walch revealed that he has attended each of Jake's film sets and premieres, ever since October Sky. He even visited London twice to see Jake on stage in This Is Our Youth. 'Jake always had his priorities straight, and certainly his heart is in the right place.'


This article also makes mention of Jarhead, which reminds me of something I recently learned. Jake had auditioned for Sam Mendes before - for the part of Ricky Fitts in American Beauty. Of course, he was unsuccessful (the role went to Wes Bentley) and, no doubt, this was in his mind when he auditioned for Swoff.


Jake appeared in Harvard-Westlake's chronicle again in 2006 when he received his Oscar nomination for Brokeback. Ted Walch said of Jake: 'When I went to the premiere of Brokeback, I felt at the time that Jake stood a very good chance of being nominated... He considers himself very lucky, and he handles his fame with a degree of humility that makes him all that much a nicer guy.' (And I like that this school paper is just as proud of another of its alumni, one who made it onto a series of Survivor.)


Harvard-Lake's pride in Jake and Brokeback Mountain is in stark contrast to the appalling reaction that Michelle Williams received from her school. 'Jim Hopson, Headmaster of Sante Fe Christian High School, said, "We don't want to have anything to do with her in relation to that movie." Hopson, whose school is located just outside San Diego, Calif., went on to say, "Michelle doesn't represent the values of this institution."'


As opposed to: 'Sharon Cuseo, a dean at the exclusive Harvard-Westlake School, says the school "embraces" Jake's 'Brokeback' success. Cuseo, who was Jake's counselor, says that the school has openly gay faculty who freely discuss gay issues with their students. Cuseo is a bit surprised that not a single parent has called to complain about Jake's role in the film. Quite the opposite; she says a number of parents have taken their children to see the movie. Ted Walch, Jake's acting coach at Harvard-Westlake, says he wasn't shocked at all that Jake took on the role. Walch says that Gyllenhaal's godparents are a gay couple and that Jake's family has always been open-minded.'


For a more detailed look at Walch's career and philosophy of teaching, read this article, which also mentions that Ted wrote in a limousine with Jake to the premiere of Moonlight Mile.

As this has put me in a Brokeback mood, here is a red carpet video of a very lovely tuxedoed Jake talking and laughing about the incredible success of Brokeback. 'Every love story needs an obstacle... and this is one of the last great obstacles.'



Maggie's style

With Maggie Gyllenhaal's visit to Paris Fashion Week, complete with Ramona and Naomi, we've been thinking about Maggie's distinct style. In an interview with the UK's Guardian today, Maggie discusses mixing fashion with motherhood and reveals that when she was at Harvard-Wetslake she modelled herself on Cyndi Lauper! Fashion was far more important then than boys.


And finally

I wanted to include a link to this article about an incredible young woman, Natalie Portman. Natalie actually has her own line of vegan shoes, amazing. Here is someone who has taken full advantage of her success and the opportunities open to her to learn about the world and give what she can back. No wonder she's been a friend of Jake's for such a long time. 'Portman has just completed her first film with Gyllenhaal, a remake of Susanne Bier's Danish film Brothers. "I've been friends with Jake a really long time, so that was really exciting," she says.'



Includes pictures from IHJ and Pop Sugar.