Happy birthday Jake - A year of Jake moments

Even the freebie newspapers of London know today is a special day if you're a Gyllenhaalic - they kindly gave me Jake's horoscope to read on the way back home this evening. Not only that, Buzzsugar gave Jake a little present - having awarded Zodiac its prize as top drama, today Jake was announced (albeit a little and absurdly reluctantly) as top dramatic actor: 'The winner for this poll is technically Jake Gyllenhaal, with James McAvoy coming in second place. The most popular write-ins were Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin for No Country for Old Men, and Emile Hirsch for Into the Wild.' I reckon 'technically' means in this instance 'actually'.


Jake's birthday is the perfect date on which to embark on our Personal Moments Tour of Jake's year and our year, as we've endeavoured to keep up with him through long-awaited film releases, grand public events, and fantastic TV appearances as well as tried to keep track of him through a long (was it hot?) summer and a busy winter filming schedule. We've had glimpses of him out and about, on his own, with family, loved ones old and new, and the ride has been fun, emotional, sentimental and sometimes downright hilarious. But the ride hasn't been solo - this 19 December is so much better than the same date last year, because this time, my life is full of friendships, which are a direct result of this year with Jake and which I now cannot imagine life without. So I beg your indulgence to allow me to kick off the Personal Moments Tour with my own memories from the year.


No 1 - BAFTAs 2007

There are moments from the year, which are particularly special to quite a few readers and so I'll leave those moments for other days, but I have to start with the event that changed everything for me - Sunday, February 11 - BAFTA day. This event was a major day not just for me, but for three others, and I'm going to come back to it in the coming days. But for now, I just want to remember the moment when I heard over the radio headset I had been given that Jake Gyllenhaal was getting out of his car. I pushed forward (apologies to the professional autograph hunter I may have slightly shoved out of the way), looked left and saw Jake coming down the line, on our side, towards me. A few minutes later, he was right in front of me and I got my autograph and had the first opportunity to say Jake's name to his face - an ambition of mine, you see. The other prize from this Sunday is a knot of friendships I never want undone. The appalling pictures below are mine (that Jakequake I've mentioned before) and the good ones aren't.






No 2 - Zodiac premiere, LA, March 2007

The second event is a strange one because Jake missed it - a shame because I flew all the way to Los Angeles for it but there were compensations in meeting old and new friends. This was a very odd experience - we had discovered not long before that the 'proper' premiere in Hollywood had been cancelled (no reason given). The disappointment eased when we then learned at the last minute - literally - that there was to be a behind doors premiere at Paramount Studios. We sped through the streets of LA, thanks to a superb driver, and got as close as we can - ie, not close at all. We tried all our cheeky wiles to get through the Paramount Studio gate but security were mean. We tried to sneak in as press but we didn't have stepladders (always take a stepladder to a premiere...) and we got ejected. But, we had the honour of being among only a handful of fans, even if it meant that all we saw was a succession of limos and SUVs streaking past, some with people in them who wound down their windows to shout encouragement, and some with people in them who just taunted us.


Chloe was there, as well as Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr - I could just make them out. Emmy Rossum looked lovely. But no Jake and no David Fincher. But what we did get was Mark Ruffalo's brother who came out to take pictures of us. One woman, who I think was Mark's wife, yelled from her car as she passed that Jake was even more gorgeous in real life than on the posters some people were carrying. We also met a girl who had had her life changed by meeting Jake on the set of Moonlight Mile. She had spent a day with him and he had been wonderful, she told us. He had also told her to look him up when she was in LA. So she brought him a note but there was noone to give it too.




No 3 Cannes International Film Festival

The Zodiac gala at Cannes was indescribable, which is fine, because the pictures that came from that event and from the festival as a whole are sensational - they really are. They more than compensate for me not being able to describe this event in words. It was made more surreal by the fact that I came down with chicken pox that day and I had a fever, which, at the time, I couldn't explain, except thinking that maybe my Jake allergy was coming out again (I had a bad case of flu after the BAFTAs). One main difference about Cannes was that it was hot, very hot (I could write a medical report on the correlation between severe sunburn and chicken pox) but through a mixture of luck and hard work, myself and my two friends had a perfect spot to enjoy the whole event.


Again, I'll return to Cannes later, because several people enjoyed this event above all others in 2007. But I just wanted to share here my own personal happiness when, with the sounds of the Zodiac soundtrack belting out, I realised that Jake had heard us calling his name and I knew he was going to respond. He did and our own moment was captured by the world's photographers - and I really do think these are the best pictures of the event - the point, the cupped ear, the laugh and the wave. Strangely, I find the pictures difficult to look at and I know that one of my friends from that day feels the same.






No 3 - The pink bracelet

Many interviews and videos were recorded at Cannes and so many of them I have carefully tucked away. The two videos I love the most though are the Happy Birthday Cannes video - posted below - and the ITN overview of Cannes, which features Jake fascinated by his interviewer's snap-on pink bracelet. I'm surprised I haven't worn this video out. Enjoy it here.





No 4 Rufus Wainwright and Jake

If I had to choose a favourite moment from the year that I was not able to attend, then, with no hesitation whatsoever, it would be Jake coming onto the stage in NYC in June to join Rufus for the end of Between My Legs. As a fan of Rufus (I saw him with Ruby just a couple of weeks later), this was incredible and the huge pleasure I felt when a video at last came to light... A thrilling event for the audience in the theatre and for so many of us.



No 5 Toronto International Film Festival

My long weekend in Toronto was life-changing and I will remember it forever as one of the most special events in my life - there was no time for jetlag (after that initial exhaustion that Bobbyanna will remember!) and not enough time for what mattered. It was hot and the place was alive with movie stars and real fans and appreciators of good films. The place really didn't sleep and the atmosphere was incredibly exciting, full of anticipation. There was good food, good company, lots of cocktails and plenty of drama. Seeing Jake and Peter outside the press conference was unforgettable, but it was also so great to see people such as Gavin Hood, Omar Metwally, Kelley Sane and Chris Fischer, walking around the place, just like you or me. Again, I wasn't the only WDW reader to have been fortunate enough to have been a part of this and so there is more from Toronto to come.





No 6 Rome International Film Festival

I was fortunate to see Jake at a fourth event this year, and this time in one of my favourite cities, albeit so, so cold. I was very well looked after thanks to a another of the friends that I've made because of Jake this year. The stars were late to this one, too late, and so there was very little time. Just a few glimpses of Jake, as well as Reese, Gavin and Kelley. But because of Jake I reacquainted myself with a city I first visited as a student and now I associate it with him.




No 7 Gooberballs

I enjoyed everyone of Jake's shows for the Rendition promotion, most especially This Morning, Late Night with Jonathan Ross, the Heart radio interview and Conan. But my favourite, without doubt, was the Letterman Show and Jake's perfect rendition of his encounter with the drunken lady in his hotel. Jake's comic timing was perfect, as amazing as any of his performances in film. I regularly watch this during my long commute and I unfailingly laugh. I just can't help it. And I still maintain that wasn't me - I know how to make a damn fine martini.



No 8 The films

I was not alone in feeling cheated and angry by the repeated delays in the release date of Zodiac. It felt like it took forever to arrive, but at last it did and Zodiac captivated me from the first time I saw it at the Grove in LA (at the very first showing) and it still hasn't let go. Rendition seemed to arrive so quickly by comparison, with a shared release date between the UK and US. I saw it the first time in Toronto and, perhaps understandably, the whole event completely overshadowed the film for me and I could hardly remember a frame of it afterwards (except for Jake's opening scene...). When I did finally see it properly, it produced a very similar reaction in me that Brokeback had done. Zodiac is my film of the year, but Rendition is not far behind.



Thanks for listening!

Other highlights include the poetry reading with Stephen Gyllenhaal just the other week, joining in a web chat with Maggie some months ago now (when I asked her three questions, including why she lived in NYC and not in LA like her brother), the Zodiac Conan interview with the modern dance moves, and the moment when I held the Interview magazine in my own hands (also the fun of watching Anouska and Ruby buy handfuls of copies when it could at last be found in the UK). Although not a highlight, I also remember how I felt when I heard about the fire in Marin County that Jake and his family had been caught up in.

Last but not least, there's a party for Jake tonight and a very special guest is Pia's Hot Teddy Jake. And here he is, a gift for you, Pia.


This post includes a few of my favourite pictures, in no particular order, and it is dedicated to Jake and to all the readers who have supported WDW over the last nine months, but with a special mention to my dear Ruby and Anouska - we may argue incessantly (and good-naturedly and occasionally drunkenly) but doesn't that make life interesting? Thanks for listening and joining with me in sending best wishes and love to Jake for his 27th birthday. I hope he gets everything he wishes for when he blows out those candles.


Includes pictures from IHJ.