Jake Gyllenhaal on Brokeback 'I was not ever afraid' and Jake's admiration for Ryan Gosling

We've been talking here about some of the other roles that Jake Gyllenhaal may find for himself in the future apart from those he takes on in front of the cameras. But, in this newly discovered video, in which Jake accepts a Human Rights Campaign for 'Leadership in the Service to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community' for his work in Brokeback Mountain, Jake reveals with great emotion what he wants to achieve from his role as actor in these years. He also tells us with enormous conviction of his faith in Brokeback Mountain: 'I was not ever afraid'.



Jake tells us how proud he is of this award, and his family's earlier ACLU civil liberties award, and that he can't say enough 'how much I will earn this - because I haven't yet, but I will earn this over the years, I hope'. And how flattered he is that 'you've entrusted this with me in the hope that I will continue to do movies like this and hopefully work to make sure that equality is something that we take for granted one day'. Jake wasn't able to accept the honour in person because he was tied to the Zodiac set at the time.


Talking of great performances, Nathaniel Rogers mentioned today that Jake spoke of an actor he admired during the New Yorker Festival event last Saturday: 'Jake Gyllenhaal is obsessed with Ryan Gosling. Just saying. I would try to quote his answer from Saturday night when the audience question 'who would you like to work let's just say it began with Ryan Gosling, was jilted by Ryan Gosling via text "I'm busy" and then ended again with a circular non sequitor shout of "Ryan Gosling!" Jake likey. Ryan Gosling is what you might call an actor's actor... since everyone seems to want to work with him.'

This is particularly interesting because at the MTV TRL show back in the Zodiac days of 2007, Jake was asked which movie appearance he wished he'd done himself and he replied, Ryan Gosling's role in Half Nelson.



While I'm about it, here's the rest:




And showing what a small world this Hollywood world is, Ryan is also now attached to Farraut North which, for quite a while, we thought would take Jake to a New York stage.

Jake 'the lone poor cat' Gyllenhaal: 'It's just the beginning'

We're very lucky to have more accounts today of Jake Gyllenhaal's glorious return to the public stage in NYC on Saturday night. I particularly enjoyed this opening to an account of the evening by Nathaniel Rogers: 'He’d be unrecognizable but for those enormous blue eyes. In fact, when Jake Gyllenhaal walked out on stage at the SVA Theater in Chelsea on Saturday night, a full bushy beard covering what seemed like all of his face, film critic David Denby didn’t even introduce him by name. “I don’t know who this guy is,” Denby joked. “He looked a little lost, so we invited him in.”' With thanks to Nathaniel for the heads up (with the promise of more to come tomorrow), you can read his full account here.


A couple of extracts: '"[Maggie] would always boss me around,” Jake said, recalling their childhood. Maggie was always the star, Jake an extra. “I did everything wrong according to her. I was always banished in the corner. She’d put on Cats and I’d be the lone poor cat, sipping milk in the corner. Les Mis—when she put that on, I was just like a poor person in a corner. It’s never changed. It's still like that,” He added laughing.'


'Jake often admitted that he was still learning as an actor. “The character is built through a lot of mistakes for me. I like to go in and be really bad and somehow I find myself. It's found through overacting and bad acting, really. I have to act it first. I have to make all the mistakes first.”'

Jake explained his connection with Anne Hathaway: '“I had already had movie sex with her.” Jake explained, citing his marriage to Hathaway in Brokeback Mountain. Zwick clearly felt he had captured lightning in a bottle by reteaming them. “Each of them at this very moment is coming into the heights of their craft and power. That can't be described.” He believes that their musicality also helped their partnership. “Rhythm and music is so important to comedy—and sex!—And they both have that.” “And they both have enormous eyes.” Denby interjected. “That’s important for sex too!” Jake joked.' Read more at Tribeca Film.


Some sites have placed emphasis on other movie confessions of Jake's, while People focused on the age thing - the approach of the Big 3-0. '"Look guys, I'm not 30 yet!" Gyllenhaal cracked at Saturday's New Yorker Festival in Manhattan. "Can you cut it with the 30 comments?"... [But] I feel more like myself. I feel like now, it's just the beginning," he says. "I guess you get to a point at 30 or somewhere and you say, 'What I am, is what I am and that's what I'm going to be and that's all good. I don't need to be anything else.' And that's kind of how I feel."'


And that is indeed the realisation that many people come to at that age and it is the reason why being 30 is such a fabulous thing to be. Obviously, I don't know yet and I'll let you know when I reach that milestone... ahem.

People also picked up some words of Jake's on his relationship with Maggie: '"I love her a lot,"... but "we don't go around looking for something to work on together. I would rather spend time with my niece and spend time as brother and sister." Not that the door is completely closed. "It would take something that I love so much … that I would need her to be a part of, and vice versa," he says.'


Pumped Up PoP

Simon Waterson, Jake's trainer for PoP has become a bit of a legend around here, with more than a few dedicated posts. To mark the DVD release, Men's Health has released Jake's full training regime and it's as horrendously horrible as one would expect. 'We had to build a functional, strong and agile physique capable of dealing with a huge workload and stresses'.

As an example, here's a Dastan exercise you can do while washing the dishes: 'Deep squats with power jump: Holding a plate above your head, do a wide squat (with your feet a few inches wider than shoulder width, toes pointing slightly outwards) getting your rear as close to the floor as possible. Then jump at least 10 inches off the floor. As soon as your feet return to the ground go straight into the next squat.' I feel better already.


Includes pictures from IHJ and JJ.

Kissing Jake Gyllenhaal - 'Occasionally, I've been into it. I won't talk about with whom' and it's all about chemistry

Jake Gyllenhaal may have seduced the lucky attendees of the New Yorker Festival on Saturday night but there was a presence in that room that sought to push Jake into the shadows while seizing the limelight and centre stage for itself. It was noticed by all but none dared to speak of it; no questions were asked about it and yet many an answer was sought. Jake's Beard. Hot on the heels (or should that be chin?) of the WDW Should Jake Shave Poll, the Washington Post has now done its own poll, in which you can vote for the relative hotness of Jake's Beard. If you ever wanted to call Jake's Beard confusing, now is your chance.


While we have yet to get the full details of Saturday's Q&A, more teasers come our way, including a lengthier snippet of Jake's discussion about movie snogging [Please note that I have corrected the spelling of Jake's surname - Not good, NBC!]: 'It's inevitably uncomfortable," Gyllenhaal said. "It's inevitably awkward. And everybody's in on it. No matter how intimate it is, everybody's in on it. Occasionally, I've been into it. I won't talk about with whom." Gyllenhaal, joined on stage by film critic David Denby and director of his latest film "Love & Other Drugs" Ed Zwick, said it's hard to get hot and heavy when there's a crew watching.'


Lucky crew...


So, with whom was Jake into it? What do you think? I have my own favourite Jake love scenes, thinking Brokeback and looking ahead to Love and Other Drugs, and I wonder if Jake is referring to Anne and to Jen and maybe to Ellen? Possibly not with Gwyneth.


Love and Other Drugs has a page in the brand new November issue of Empire, which is great news because it sticks with the 29 December date! Ed Zwick has this to say about Jake and Anne Hathaway: 'When you see what they have together, that is the heart and soul of the movie... Chemistry is an elusive thing, in real life as in movies, but you do know it when you see it.'


I'm adding this video here for no other reason than that it's funny and I just watched it again.



Back to Jake's Beard.



So where is Jake now? Having no doubt celebrated Ramona's birthday yesterday with an exorbitant amount of jelly, trifle and PoP lego, one person, located in Boston, had this to say: 'best thing about my day.... saw Jake Gyllenhall. Worst thing about my day....almost stepped on a rat.' I must say that I would agree with both.


And finally...

53 years ago today, Sputnik launched and so began the Space Age. And so it makes me think of Jake and his portrayal of Homer Hickam. Jake even made an astronaut cry with his portrayal of a boy's dreams to look starwards.




Includes scan from WDW and pictures from IHJ.

WDW Exclusive report of Jake Gyllenhaal at the New Yorker Festival (with video)!

One of the many things I love about doing Wet Dark and Wild is that I get the chance to share in so many wonderful Jake adventures. Today, we have another! With enormous thanks to reader Xanne, who was in the theatre last night along with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ed Zwick, we have an account of some of what Jake talked about, along with two video clips so we can see the furry lips in action for ourselves!



So here is what Xanne has to say: 'I had no idea what they would even talk about, but they basically covered the span of his career. David started out asking questions about growing up in a show business family and Jake mentioned the usual story about Maggie putting on performances like Cats and making him be the lonely cat drinking milk, etc. [WDW: Like to hear Maggie wriggle out of this one now!] Then David asked a question about college and if he regretted dropping out of Columbia to make movies, which Jake answered very quickly that he did have regrets. (One of my favorite parts was right after: David said "Maggie graduated college, didn't she?" and then Jake, in his typical deadpan style said "Yeah. Thanks for rubbing it in.").'



'Then the questions moved on to different points of his career, starting with City Slickers, and touching on films like Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain and Zodiac (they showed clips from all three). Jake discussed how he chooses movies that make him feel something when he reads the script ("At the end of reading Love and Other Drugs, I was crying. At the end of reading Brokeback Mountain, I was crying. At the end of Donnie Darko, I was throwing up.") He discussed how he makes decisions about his character, different parts of the acting process, etc. Then they started talking about Love and Other Drugs, and Ed Zwick came up. Very interesting to hear about the shooting process. They also showed two clips from it. Jake was so charming as usual. When Ed first came up, they didn't have a chair for him and Jake was like "I'll stand!" and leapt to his feet, but of course, they pulled out an extra chair and everything was fine.'


'Then it was time for the audience to ask questions, and then sadly, time to leave. One lucky old man managed to lean across the stage and shake his hand before he left, but that was it... David did mention the mustache in Brokeback and told Jake "When you shave your beard, shave the mustache too" or something along those lines. Then of course, Jake made a joke about how that mustache had won internet awards.'

If anyone has any questions, ask them in the comments and I'll send them along to Xanne.

Updated to add a short account from the New Yorker. I liked this bit about movie snogs: '"There is a weird sense of being watched," [Jake] said. "You can't help but watch yourself, which takes the sexiness out of it."'

Many many thanks to Xanne! Picture from the Huffington Post.

Jake Gyllenhaal is back and 'his adorableness shines through all the fur'

Jake Gyllenhaal is back! He did indeed bring his bear Face Pet with him to the New Yorker Festival last night but it looked tamed and under control. In the words of one lucky person who was there last night and tweeted to me about it: 'The Beard is still there but I will say it's more forgivable in person because his adorableness shines through all the fur.' Someone else said: 'Newsflash: he is glorious and perfect.' And with many thanks to IHJ, we can see just how glorious and perfect for ourselves. I'm prepared to bet a pint that the beard and longer hair are role-related.


We don't have details yet about the interview itself, conducted by the New Yorker's film critic David Denby, but it also appears that other people had the chance to ask Jake some questions. One writer said: 'I asked Jake Gyllenhaal what he learned from playing Bubble Boy. He said to take chances like Depp.' After all our recent talk here about Jake's movies, it's good to hear Jake talk about, and be asked about, Bubble Boy and his early movies.



Other people, less familiar with Jake, came out of the theatre with a real liking for him, as an actor and as a genuinely nice person.







No doubt there is much more to come about this event so stay tuned!

More pictures at IHJ

Sexy Stubble Day or Bring Your Bear to Work Day? Time will tell...

So! Is today Sexy Stubble Day or is it not? While we wait to hear about tonight's New Yorker chat in NYC (10pm EST), here is a short interlude post. Firstly, Jake Gyllenhaal has been seen today in the Big Apple and it was on another train. Duncan Jones certainly didn't put Jake off trains by blowing them up through Source Code. And for that the environment is no doubt grateful.


But on to more serious matters. Jake wasn't just seen on a subway train, he was also seen with a bear. 'I just saw Jake Gyllenhaal on the subway in NYC, bear and all. He looked at me and seemed afraid I'd say something. All good man, live your life.' So, bear...? Are we talking Grizzly, Polar, Black, Brown or Panda here? Something tells me, it's Grizzly. Hopefully not Polar. This post is going for a clean-shaven look in terms of photos - as a last-minute incentive.


Jake was also seen with Maggie yesterday. The bear wasn't mentioned so clearly it was behaving itself. Maggie was also seen out for a bite to eat this week with Sam Mendes, her past director and Jake and Peter's (plus a local boy round these parts). Sam does look like he may have heard this one before - maybe it was one of Jake's old jokes.


Tonight, with or without his bear, Jake will be talking with Ed Zwick and the New Yorker about Love and Other Drugs. After not having heard much at all from Ed on this movie, suddenly he can't hold back. We've been talking here about our favourite Jake movies and it appears that Ed has been giving them some thought too. Here are some words of his on his leading pair from Blast Magazine: '“You have to look at an actor’s body of work,” Zwick said. “I’ve been watching Annie’s work in the last couple of years. Increasingly, the braver she gets, the more she takes chances and the better her work. She’s clearly someone who is ambitious and serious and coming into the height of her power. I thought, well gee, nobody has seen how earthy and tough and funny Anne really is.”


'“And Jake, really when given the right script has been extraordinary. Some choices are less good than others I think, but when I got to know him, I saw something nobody else has seen, just how funny he is, and how charming and open and attractive in this way. Nobody has seen Jake be that seductive bad boy, and I said let’s show audiences parts of these actors they think they know but don’t.”'


Personally, I think this is something that David O'Russell saw in Jake too and we will also see this side of him in Nailed - hopefully.

Do keep your own top tens coming in the comments. I'm really enjoying reading them and I'm not the only one. Includes pictures from links, IHJ and a WDW scan.

Charming, sexy and funny: Ed Zwick on Jake Gyllenhaal

Ed Zwick has been talking about Love and Other Drugs and he has this to say about leading man Jake Gyllenhaal: 'He's charming, he's sexy and funny. Annie is funny too. I think as well as that people think they know these actors - they're going to see them as if for the first time.' That could be quite a tall order for us but I'm prepared to give it a go!


It's 'a more grown up story - it's funny but it also has a very serious underpinning to it... I wanted to talk about the difference between casual sex and love and how people fall into bed and how it's a lot easier to fall into bed than to fall into love.' It's about 'meeting that one person who changes your life forever, even when you're not prepared for it to happen'... They both need to learn it, that's the funny part. They resist it. They'll do anything not to fall in love but they can't help it.'



Judy Greer has a part in the movie and she is clearly very pleased with it: 'And that one’s going to be good because I saw the trailer for that too and I was like, “That looks so good!” and then I was like, “That’s my movie!” [laughs] I got so excited. Totally a movie I would watch, cry alone while I watched.' I love the sound of that - a movie to cry and laugh with. And ogle at.



In last night's post I included LoveFilm's top 10 Jake movies. Clearly some of us disagreed. And so, after Mermon took the brave steps of listing her own top ten in the previous comments, how about having a go yourself. Clearly, Love and Other Drugs and Source Code may have to find a home in the list in the future, but for the time being, focus on the released movies. I'll start off and remember there is no right and wrong but (almost in the words of Highlander) there can be only ten.



10. Bubble Boy
9. Rendition
8. October Sky
7. Jarhead
6. The Day After Tomorrow
5. Moonlight Mile
4. Prince of Persia
3. Donnie Darko
2. Brokebaack Mountain
1. Zodiac


Congratulations to David Fincher on the release of Social Network in the US.

Includes pictures from IHJ.