A bespectacled Jake Gyllenhaal, Captain Jack wants Jake to play him and a little bit of Nailed

Jake Gyllenhaal, on being admitted to that exclusive club of Vanity Fair's best dressed yesterday, told the magazine that his favourite charity was New Eyes for the Needy. We have also heard Jake talk over the years about how, 'When I was a kid I had these huge glasses. I once went to a fancy dress as a Crest toothpaste tube with these huge glasses stuck on. That is how I see myself most of the time. A Crest toothpaste tube with bad eyesight.' Jake may now wear contact lenses and the finest sunglasses, but we (especially those of us with four eyes) long to see him in 'proper' glasses. Today, thanks to Annie for sending the picture our way, we can. My heart is mush. I'd recognise that smile anywhere. Source.



One person who's made no secret over the years of his appreciation for Jake Gyllenhaal is John Barrowman, star of Torchwood, the stage, and now Desperate Housewives. Known to many - and me - as Captain Jack, Barrowman has regularly competed with Jake for AfterElton's hottest guy title and the results have never left John without an appreciative word for Jake. John also has the admirable aim of sharing a screen kiss with his idol. Today, John Barrowman suggested that if one actor show play out his life in a movie it should be Jake Gyllenhaal. I would like to think Jake Gyllenhaal would be a good choice'.


The Daily Record has a feature on Jessica Biel today and in it is the suggestion that Nailed is read to finish shooting those final scenes. Fingers crossed.


And finally...

The lateness of this post is entirely the fault of Oxford's cocktail bars, which couldn't stop themselves from throwing delights in the path of myself and Ruby this evening. And I quote... (I particularly recommend the one on the right)



Cheers! Pictures from links, IHJ and WDW. Thanks again to Annie!

Jake Gyllenhaal and his amazing magical powers - on and off the screen

John Barrowman, aka Captain Jack, is a favourite of mine, not least because I first saw him on BAFTA Day 2007 when John did his bit to entertain us during that long and cold wait for a certain rather gorgeous movie star to turn up. By the sound of it, it wasn't just me who got a thrill when the announcement came that Jake Gyllenhaal had just got out of his car and was walking our way.


'John Barrowman has a soft spot for Jake Gyllenhaal. The Torchwood star would like to share an on-screen snog with the 29-year-old hunk. 'I've been pretty lucky to have kissed some fabulous women,' John, 43, admits. 'I've also kissed some of the most fabulous men but Jake Gyllenhaal is lovely - just take your clothes off, Jake!'' A classic almost poetic phrase there, I'm sure you'll agree, And, back in 2008, when Jake beat John to win AfterElton's Top 100 Hottest, Captain Jack had no complaints.


Meanwhile, commentators - largely in the US - continue to lambast Prince of Persia despite its huge success beyond those shores. With thanks to Tas for the link, you can read here an interesting feature, which lists the 36 films that have made $200 million or more internationally, with less than 30% coming from the US. PoP is listed at no. 20 and there are some great movies on this list - Schindler's List, Fifth Element and The Full Monty. Many of these films have proven themselves stayers, judging by the number of times Fifth Element is shown on UK TV...


Jake Gyllenhaal has charmed far and wide with Prince of Persia and its publicity tour. I particularly enjoyed this article from Canada which shows yet again what happens when Jake lets loose that most formidable weapon - his charm. Or, as this article puts it, his magical powers that extend far beyond the screen.


'While his character Dastan's superpowers in the mystical lands of Persia come from an ancient dagger that has the ability to turn back time, Gyllenhaal's real life magic comes from copious charisma and an ability to make even the most jaded journalists break out into thunderous laughter on command. He instantly cranks up his own brand of charm upon entering an intimate hotel room with a handful of Toronto media, teasing a pretty young reporter about her clunky radio equipment. "Wow, old school!" he says, pretending to use all of his strength to wind it up. "Can you repeat that please?" he quips in the most timid of girly voices. The 29-year-old actor has just finished making another young female scribe blush by calling her a "vision in white" during their one-on-one interview down the hall.'


'Despite the number one question from the press being "How did you get those abs?," Gyllenhaal has lost much of the bulk he put on while filming eighteen months ago and his unimposing stature is a far cry from the mega-muscle-man who appears on the film's posters. He admits to loading up on plenty of Baskin Robbins ice cream to celebrate the end of the regimented training schedule and strict diet he was forced to follow for the role, which also required him to adopt a British accent for the first time in his career. All the gruelling work clearly paid off, with Gyllenhaal calling the female frenzy "flattering," especially when a theatre full of fans at a recent Los Angeles screening chanted "take off your shirt" relentlessly.'


'Gyllenhaal recently showed "Prince of Persia" to his cousins - who range in age from six to 14 - and says their excitement reminded him of when he saw the "Indiana Jones" films for the first time as a child. "This movie was made for families to bring their kids," he says.'

'Of course, the gamers will also be front and centre in theatres, and Gyllenhaal fully expects to hear their criticism. "Video game movies have not been successfully adapted in the past and I think we have gone out of our way to interpret the video game as opposed to copy it which obviously draws criticism from the avid gamers who play the game all the time but I think it's the only way to make any movie that's based on a video game good," he says.'



'"The character I play in the movie is much more similar to me than any of the other characters I've ever played before," he explains. "I like to have a good time and not take myself too seriously."... Just before the interview is set to come to a close, a reporter throws out one final question: "Can you really do parkour??" she probes, at which point Gyllenhaal's publicist steps in to call it a wrap. "Uh, we gotta go..." he stammers nervously, never seeming to tire of playing the jokester. "We've gotta go, it's time to do parkour training!"' More here.



If you're unable to see the video embedded in the post, you can find it here. Jake, again, is in playful mode.



Includes pictures from Ruby and scans from WDW.

Fact! Jake Gyllenhaal is better looking than your average Moon Watcher - and WDW's Captain Jack encounter

Doug Liman has been talking to the ninjas again (how I love these ninjas), providing further insider information on the whereabouts of The Moon Project. Last week, Doug was invited to a Moon Party to watch NASA's rocket attack on the other moon, the named one. And when the rockets failed to produce any kind of dust cloud that was visible more than 10 foot off the surface, Doug resorted to the next best thing - Moon Watcher Watching. Doug's conclusion? Jake Gyllenhaal is better looking than your average moon watcher. Obviously, no disrespect to your average moon watcher is intended here - it's simply Physics.


So... what have we learned from Doug today? Firstly, his work in progress - the Moon Budget - is 350 pages long, suggesting that firing rockets into the moon may actually be cheaper. Secondly, Jake Gyllenhaal may have outshone everyone in the room but he would still have looked at home there, thereby combining hot and geek; a tried, tested and much loved combination in Jake's acting repertoire. Thirdly, things have moved on from the original script. Jake is no longer the mad scientist, he is now the controller.


'Jake isn’t playing the hardcore scientist of the movie; he’s the mastermind. He is using the hardcore scientist in a way, like I am using the physicist at Columbia to research my movie. I realize that I’m saying that I’m the Jake in this scenario, but that’s the way it is. I identify with a character in all of my movies. Sometimes more than one — they’re different sides of me. In Mr. & Mrs Smith, it was John Smith. And when Jez Butterworth (the writer of Fair Game) read Moon, he pointed out massive similarities between the Jake Gyllenhaal character breaking all the rules to complete his mission and basically how I put together my movies. Which actually makes me feel better about the movie, because I think that when you do a big epic story, if you cannot ground it in something really personal, it becomes sort of meaningless fluff.'


Fourthly, the good news is that the whole moon watching event inspired Doug and hopefully brought us a little closer to meeting this new and deeply fascinating Jake character. Doug clearly wants this project, so close to his heart, to do the right thing. More with the ninjas.


As for Jake on Earth, it's not been that easy pinning him down (metaphorically speaking). Tweets have placed him in various Californian locations this weekend - mostly in places associated with food. However, today, the Pittsburgh Tweeters are back and Jake has been seen filming. Someone also commented that pictures were not allowed and security was tight. I continue to live in hope.


Back to the moon - kind of. Well, science fiction - sort of. Over the last few days I've done rather well in my stumbling across famous people while trying to find a coffee act. Today, I came across that well-known time traveller who chose to settle in Cardiff - Captain Jack - aka John Barrowman. The downside was the John Barrowman album that was playing in the background the entire time, but the upside was that John was charming and rather lovely, reminding me of the last time I saw him - at the BAFTAs 2007 when he was hosting a show from opposite us on the red carpet. John also, of course, happily competes with Jake for the upper reaches of the AfterElton hot poll. I did manage to get some pictures despite the enormous crowds.




Barrowman pics past and present by WDW. Many thanks to IHJ for the new old pics of Jake from the Today Show back in 2007, as a result of which you're spared more Clangers videos.