Jake, Maggie and Peter celebrate Uncle Vanya's Opening Night

Sensational pictures this morning of Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie and Peter and friends at the opening party of Uncle Vanya last night. It's been a while since we've had pictures of the three of them together but these make up for that in abundance. And not only do we get more of The Hat, huge smiles from a very proud brother, we also get the added bonus of Chest Hair! It's a good day.











Thanks to Get Real for identifying the blonde lady as Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer.

Many thanks to IHJ for these wonderful pictures - there are lots more there.

Jake Gyllenhaal in NYC for Peter and Maggie's opening night? And some bits and pieces...

While we hold our collective breath and wait for the release of the video for Jamie Foxx's new single Blame It, expected on 9 February and - as is the way with many Jake Gyllenhaal film appearances - delayed, there's time for a mishmash of a post. First - many thanks to Get Real for the link that suggests that Jake is, as widely hoped and speculated, in New York City! Tomorrow night (12 February) is the opening night of Peter and Maggie's Uncle Vanya. Coincidence? I think not. Jake could either be there tomorrow to cheer them on... or the babysitter dropped out at the last minute.


On to the sighting last night - Jake was seen in Allen and Delancey on the Lower East Side wearing a 'newsboy cap', which sounds very familiar. One aspect of this particular hat that I have particularly enjoyed is that it evokes so many different memories and meanings to people from both sides of the pond. But never mind the hat, what about the fodder - actually, never mind the food, what about the cocktail list? Be inspired here. Put me down for a Jalisco Trail.


So, talking of Jake sightings, someone else today mentioned on their site their own brief encounter with one rather flirty and rather delicious Jake Gyllenhaal. It bears repeating here: 'I have been kissed on the cheek by The Rock, Ewan McGregor, and one time i asked Jake Gyllenhaal what he had in his pocket and he said "Let me see...oh, I have your phone number!"' That's our Jake, all right, but it wasn't her phone number...


And, talking of Peter and Maggie, who are no doubt speaking around the home to each other in Chekhovesque as they prime themselves for tomorrow's opening, if you want their coats, you can have them - well, for a price. 'Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Lindsay Price – have donated autographed Mackage coats to Housing Works, which will be auctioned online at Shophousingworks.com. Bidding starts February 7th and ends on February 19th at 7:00pm.'


As for Jake, Forbes released its list of most bankable actors yesterday and at the top was Will Smith. However, Jake Gyllenhaal was a very respectable 52 - especially when one considers that Jake's films have been delayed for one reason or another and it's been a while. Clearly people are ready to wait. Not very patiently - but we wait. It's an interesting list - Robert Downey Jr is 21, for instance, and there are few youngsters. This list of Star Currency is based on the opinions of directors, producers and people directly involved with the industry. When you look at the breakdown, Jake fares far better with those from Italy than from Spain, for example, but, if it hadn't have been for Spain's result, Jake would have been much higher.


Jake's fellow Prince of Persia, Toby Kebbell, has been getting some attention in the wake of his rising star BAFTA nomination which, unfortunately, was not to be his. In an article yesterday, it was revealed why PoP director Mike Newell took to Toby: 'Kebbell impressed Newell deeply: 'For my story, Toby had to be butch, handsome and dim. He's very still in rehearsal; he concentrates, sits neatly paying attention, like a cat watching goldfish. A Yorkshireman; no wasted words. 'Then one day you realise he's built his character all round himself and he's not the same guy who sat watching at all. He's inside this crystal container of character. You can still - just - see him deep inside the container. 'You rap on the outside to talk to him and he calls back, "Go away. Don't bother me. I'm being someone else." I think one day they'll find out he's really very funny.''


'Butch, handsome and dim' - sounds perfect (except when you need him for the Pub Quiz). Right, then, Jamie, where's this video?


Includes pictures from IHJ.

Peter and Maggie off Broadway and Jake in the beginning - 'Some rocket has gone up for me'

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard are currently consolidating Peter's Chekhov' experience by appearing in Uncle Vanya off Broadway - in a small theatre where a week's seat takings wouldn't have filled the theatre for Seagull. In this play, the couple have attracted relatively little attention, with the paps staking out the coffee shops for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, not for Peter and Maggie.


And so, the couple can enjoy the experience for what it is - a chance to enjoy working together out of the movie world and, to some extent, out of the limelight. Fortunately, as they both admit, the publicity pull of Peter and his 'lover' is something that they appreciate for the play's success during a time when a theatre seat is a luxury.


This very enjoyable article in the New York Times, not only includes an interview with Peter and Maggie, but it also features audio interviews with the two, complete with the sounds of coffee cups and cafe life. In one of these, Maggie reflects on how she was able to combine motherhood with Batman. Now that Peter and Maggie are working together, a babysitter is a necessary need - fortunately mum Naomi is on hand: 'My mom kept saying: ‘Michelle Obama’s mom is going to the White House with them. It’s fine,’' Peter's satisfaction on working with his 'lover' is wide open. There is more about the play here.


Talking of Batman, following Christian Bale's little outburst on the set of Terminator 4, there has been talk that maybe he should hangup his tights and hand in the keys to his batmobile. For some, Jake Gyllenhaal might be a candidate... He's the number one choice for this site: 'At some point, Tobey Maguire was talking about leaving the Spider-Man franchise to do serious fare (cue Seabiscuit trailer), and in the slim amount of time between when that statement was issued and retracted, Jake Gyllenhaal had emerged has a favorite to replace him. So clearly, Gyllenhaal, who in the past has played Jennifer Aniston’s stalker, a gay cowboy and some guy in Jarhead who traipsed about in a Santa hat, has a distinguishable superhero mark.'


Years before Jake could be considered as a candidate for superheros, or for the Prince of Persia, he beat 'a cattle call of a thousand to play the teenage version of NASA science engineer Homer Hickam Jr' in October Sky. '"Forgive me if I'm a little daunted," grins the 18-year-old, fresh-faced newcomer, who embarks on his first starring role in October Sky, opening this week. With his blue-eyed, sensitive gaze and aw-shucks ways taking up nearly every frame in the film -- based on Hickam's autobiographical memoir, Rocket Boys -- the teenager is poised to become the thinking-girl's Leonardo DiCaprio. "I don't think I'm ready for that," he assures us.'


'"The passion that Homer has for his rocketry, I have for my acting," says Gyllenhaal, whose previous film work includes bits in City Slickers and A Dangerous Woman. On the black, dusty set of crumbled asphalt in Knoxville, Tennessee, Gyllenhaal met up with a true test of his talent -- the real Homer Hickman. "He pulls up and it had just rained and the sun was shining bright, reflecting off the black ground ... and Homer looked at us and was crying," recalls Gyllenhaal. "How honourable and flattering that was."'


'"The movie-making process is supposedly romantic," he laughs. "You think it's all walking on red carpets to the makeup trailer. But there was something strangely, uh, humbling about Tennessee." Between lighting changes and scenes, "I was doing math or taking a quiz," says Gyllenhaal, the youngest of the group, finishing up high school via tutor during the shoot. "It was a really delicate balance trying to maintain both at the same time. It was hard."'


'But as a freshman at Columbia University, the actor is adamant to keep on schoolin', even if fame beckons. "I'm reading your dead, white males," he jokes, of his homework of poetry and novels he's lugging around with him to scan between interviews. "I hopefully won't abandon school. Going to college is really about human experiences and being human and being ordinary among the 16,000 people that are there," he says, "instead of sitting around a table being interviewed and being the only one talking."'


'"Doing this movie is like a dream coming true," he says. "Some rocket has gone up for me in some strange way."'


Includes pictures from IHJ and links.