I've been fortunate to see Jake a ridiculously wonderful number of times in five countries and through it all I've had the fun of sharing it all here. And not only my own adventures, it's been great hearing the Jake stories shared by readers here. Hopefully, as Jake's filming - and stage - career step up a gear in 2012, there'll be lots more to come.
The best way to see the highlights of these five years is through the archives, but here is a brief look at just a few of the memorable times...
2007
2007 was a year I'll never forget for it was spent in a whirlwind of film releases. I saw Jake in London, Cannes, Toronto and Rome with a near miss in LA at the Zodiac Premiere that wasn't. I can do no better here than point you in the direction of a post I did for Jake's birthday in 2007. This remains one of my favourite posts from an exceptional year - so good a year in fact that it was the perfect time to start a blog.
2008
2008 was a difficult year for a number of reasons. The loss of Heath Ledger doesn't get easier. Jake spent much of the year filming and being well away from paparazzi cameras while he did it. Jake filmed Brothers in a snowy cold New Mexico before moving to South Carolina in the spring for Nailed. More than one reader here was an extra on the movie and BBMISwear visited the set and gave us the most incredible account following her lunch with Jake and our friend Ted. If you haven't read this account then you really must! Here is a photo of two of my very favourite people... courtesy of BBMISwear.
Another friend Nicole shared her experiences of the filming of Nailed with us too - you can read some of her adventures here and here. Quite incredible. Thanks to Nicole for sharing her pictures. There are little videos on WDW too.
One reader, Lisa, told us all about her experiences on the night time set of Nailed - her daughter was one of the extras. You can read that here and here.
In April, I had an adventure of my own, when An Education filmed in Oxford. This led to the rather unbelievable occasion of bumping in to Peter Sarsgaard on the way home from work. I was very fortunate, thanks to Winterbird, to also attend the premiere in London in 2009.
Also in 2008, friends and I took the trip to London to the premiere of The Dark Night, not least to pay our respects to Heath. A very memorable day and lovely to see Maggie.
As for Jake, for much of the rest of the year barely a peep was heard from him. He had been whisked off to Morocco to film Prince of Persia.
2009
In the spring of 2009 we were granted with our first glimpse of Prince Dastan, giving me the chance to take an archaeological look at its early medieval authenticity - a post that turned out to be one of the most popular in WDW's history.
In the summer, I was off to Boston for my Moonlight Mile journey with BBMISwear. This was quite a trip - seeing BBMISwear trying to launch herself over the post office counter ala Jake was extremely entertaining. Everywhere we went, people were keen to talk about their memories of when Jake and Dustin Hoffman came to town. One of the posts is here, while here we are on our quest for That Bench.
2009 was the year of expectations! We had trailers for Brothers - this film had been put back another year leading to a very miserable WDW for a while. We had glimpses from Prince of Persia and then we had the filming of Love and Other Drugs. Jake now and again emerge from PoP secluded busyness for trips to Europe and much excitement at WonderCon in San Francisco earlier in the year - an event that was attended by a good friend.
As the Noughties drew to a close, I did a recap of some of my favourite photos of the decade. You might want to take a look, if only to see Jake with cute animals.
2010
As 2009 ended and 2010 began, Brothers at last came out after a ridiculously long wait for a film that had been finished long before.
But there were two big highlights for me in 2010. Firstly, the premiere of Prince of Persia in London. An absolutely fantastic event despite the ridiculous setting for it. Again, I was lucky to share the day with good friends and I am very proud that my dear friend Ruby took the best photo of Jake I ever saw from that day. One of the reports here.
The other highlight was in November when I was able to attend the London press conference for Love and Other Drugs thanks to Bleeding Cool! And this meant that finally Love and Other Drugs was out!
2011
2011 was the year of Source Code! After its success at the SXSW festival, it was released around the world to a great reception. I had a great time in Berlin when the film screened there, giving me the opportunity to meet more of Jake's fans while watching Jake from the comfort of a cinema seat with a footstool!
Eureka was one of my friends who was able to see - and meet - Jake elsewhere on the tour - this time in Madrid. She got some brilliant photos!
Jake's hair was a source of fascination in 2011 with Jake at times doing a fine impression of Sasquatch. And then along came End of Watch and all of that changed. Baldy Jake in Uniform emerged.
But without doubt one of the highlights of 2011 - and indeed of the last five years - was Jake's appearance with Brit Bear Grylls on Man vs Wild. This set new standards in the torture of celebrities on television and earned Jake enormous kudos across the media.
And so...
After a quiet period, excitement looms! Jake is about to begin filming An Enemy and will soon be making his debut on the NYC stage. I have no doubt that there will be stories to tell from that! And of course End of Watch will finally reach the big screen. With new management and a new haircut, the future looks rosy! I look forward to following it with all of you. Many thanks to everyone who has shared the last five years with me - Cheers!
