[Updated] Jake Gyllenhaal really is off to swim with walruses and how he ate his way around Pittsburgh: 'I like to eat'

[Update] It seems like Jake must have heard about our less than redhot feelings at his association with the movie New Year's Eve. Today Jake's name is gone from IMDb, as is Taylor Swift's, and both have been replaced by Zac Efron, Reese Witherspoon and Halle Berry!

On with the Arctic post...

We've heard Jake Gyllenhaal talk about turning 30, we've heard Jake talk about walruses, but now we get to have the two put together because Jake has revealed to the NY Daily News his plans for the big 3-0 celebrations: 'To commemorate the date, he's taking the family on a trip to the Arctic Circle to scuba-dive with walruses. "The only reason I'm doing it is I wanted to do something that absolutely terrified me — killer whales and walruses and freezing cold water? That seems absolutely terrifying."'


[The picture above is from LATimes - the interview featured in the River Nile post]

Clearly Jake is enough past his horror of ostriches to be able to take to the icy depths with walruses and orca during the dark Arctic Circle winter. As someone who's been fortunate enough to have travelled big chunks of the world for some incredible wildlife adventures [I have an outstanding ambition to see whales off Norway], I am thrilled by Jake's choice of birthday challenge. I have, however, been doing some research - here is the scale of what's in store for Jake.


This interview is a goodie. It includes another accout of 16-year-old Jake's streak through the Beverley Center in speedoes for a bet and further hints to his rapacious eating habits: 'Gyllenhaal still loves returning to New York, if only for his regular black-and-white cookie fix. "I'm a connoisseur," he laughs. "And I love the one at Nussbaum & Wu — that's one of my favorite black-and-white cookies in the city."' Read more here.



There is another fine interview with Jake in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This was of course the place where Love and Other Drugs was filmed and it's clear that Jake has some fond memories of the city although, not surprisingly, most of this has to do with food. As Jake says here: '"Oh, gosh. Let's see, I went to so many places. I like to eat. I ate my way around. I ate everywhere. I wish I could remember the names of everything." Without any prompting, he recalls, "I loved Dish -- the restaurant Dish. I did love the pancakes at Pamela's, I'd have to say, which is probably the go-to. 21st Street Coffee. There was a Greek place that was right where I lived [in Squirrel Hill], I don't remember the name."'

'Mr. Gyllenhaal, who shot the Ed Zwick film from mid-September to late November 2009, says, "I was surprised at how much I loved all the food and actually how much I loved Pittsburgh. ... I loved the change of seasons there, and I loved the people there and I had a great time. I would love to make another movie in Pittsburgh."'


Jake talks about what he learned from Jamie Randall (the 'real' viagra rep) and what the role taught him about the pharmaceutical industry. He also recalls his jitters before the first day on set: 'I hardly ever sleep the first night before shooting. It's like, I never believe I'm making a movie. I think I'm going to forget all the things I've rehearsed and prepared.'

And on his relationship with Anne after Brokeback: 'We weren't friends like we are now. ... We shared a great bond from that movie; everybody involved in it did.' [Anne's opening skit from SNL below shows some alternative EW covers...]



Jake also talks about how he is able to get on with his private life, getting coffee like everyone else, even if he's spotted. 'I think we live in a world where people who are in the public eye have to know that what they do is going to be documented. There is definitely an ability for privacy, but most of the time, you just have to accept that that's what it is. And I think you have to be who you are and do what you love, and I think most of the time, people are pretty respectful and when they're not, they're not.'


'He says he loves his fans and making movies and the attention that comes with it. When it's suggested that 99 percent of the population can run out for coffee or stop for gas without checking in the mirror, he says, "So can I. It just depends on what you believe. If you want everybody to see you looking a certain way, then if that makes your life happy, then that's great. That would make me miserable. If you're aware of it all the time, I think you're not living. People are going to make mistakes, they're going to have amazing times, hard times, just like everybody, and people might document that and say whatever they're going to say, but ultimately it's just life. You can take a picture of it or not, but you gotta live it."'

Read the rest of the interview here.

Updated to add a link to an amusing account of Jake leaping over the red carpet cordon at the DGA premiere last week.

Includes scans from BBMISwear! Thank you!