Behind the scenes at the Edible Schoolyard & the beginnings of Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway's 'long history together'

Jake Gyllenhaal's last day in New York City was spent productively. He added his name to the support of Edible Schoolyard and then he shaved most of the beard off. A casual look at the photographs and at a news video from the event (which makes no mention of Jake at all), demonstrates that Jake did not push himself forward. In fact, with many thanks to Ned, the editor of Sheepshead Bites, we have an account of what happened. And it's also thanks to Ned that we have many of these great pictures from the day at all! Appropriately enough, the photos below are Ned's as are the words:


'The event was actually kind of funny. Jake was not supposed to be there, and word is that he dropped by because he was in town and had already done fundraising for the project. No one really acknowledged him, and when I first saw him sitting up front with the Councilman, I said, "Oh, look, a guy that looks like Jake Gyllenhaal." Then I didn't pay him any additional attention.'

'Later, while photographing the kids in the garden, the NY Post photographer said to me, "So did you get a photo of the actor?" I asked what actor, and he said "The guy with the sunglasses over there." Standing in front of Jake was a huge fat guy with sunglasses, who I happen to know is a city worker. So I said, "You have no idea what you're talking about. That guy's just some bureaucrat." Then the fat guy moved, and the Post guy says, "No, it's Jake something-or-other."'


'Then it all clicked, and I got a bunch of photos.'

'He's very approachable. He hung around even after most of the media was gone, and people were just chatting with him. Seems like a good guy.'

This is just the account that I love to hear and, although it puts a big smile on my face, it doesn't surprise me in the least because we know all too well that Jake is indeed a good guy. Thanks, Ned!


The Big Apple

The business of opening edible schoolyards and shaving meant that this was one of the very few days from Jake's visit to the Big Apple when he wasn't spotted at a restaurant, cafe, foodshop or milkbar - or even Sun in Bloom. Fortunately, there's one thing about the Edible Schoolyard that is bound to appeal to Jake: it's edible.



Intimacies and complexities

Vogue's feature on Anne Hathaway is now available to read online and it includes a marvellous interview, which demonstrates that the filming of Love and Other Drugs proved to be a cathartic experience for Anne and, no doubt, Jake had his part to play in helping her through a rough time. As can be seen in this excerpt:

'“I tried not to like the script as much as I did, because it scared me,” Hathaway says. “What if it becomes a melodrama? What if the audience doesn’t find these challenging characters charming? There were so many things that could possibly go wrong with it.”'


'If it’s a mismash of genres, the film is held together by the old-fashioned movie-star glamour—and chemistry—of its leads. Reuniting five years after Brokeback Mountain, they further develop what Gyllenhaal calls “the intimacies and complexities between Annie and me, because we have what’s starting to be a long history together, professionally and as friends.”'


'Hathaway says that she “fell in love” with her character, a free spirit who, faced with a life-changing illness, shuts down emotionally. “I heard her voice so strongly in my head, and when that happens I just can’t tune it out,” she says. “She feels like a girl you might actually know.” One of Hathaway’s most salient qualities, of course, is that she herself feels like a girl you might actually know. With her thick mane of hair, Bambi eyes, and huge smile, Hathaway is capable of generating serious allure, but she has always been more of a friend’s kid sister all grown up than an unapproachable screen siren. As Lone Scherfig, her One Day director, says, “She has some of the quality of Elizabeth Taylor or Judy Garland or someone who is not iconic because of her beauty or her goddess status but because of her warmth and depth and humanity. She’s not a Hitchcock blonde—she’s a real person.”'


Fingers crossed that this is indeed just the beginning of a silverscreen partnership between Jake and Anne.

Pictures from Sheepshead Bites, Vogue and IHJ.