Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaalis an American actor. A member of the Gyllenhaal family and the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting as a child with a screen debut in City Slickers, followed by roles in A Dangerous Womanand Homegrown. His breakthrough performance was as Homer Hickam in October Skyand he garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead for playing the title character in the indie cult hit Donnie Darko, in which...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth19 December 1980
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
My character's the one that kind of initiates these sexual encounters, which to me was, like, totally foreign.
Ang [Lee] gave us a lot of books about cowboys who had been gay or stories about it and all that stuff. And I just talked to a lot of my friends - who [was] their first, particularly same-sex, first situation. That was fascinating to me - trying to learn what that was in a certain period of time. Certain age. The secrecy involved in it. All those things.
I always say about that movie [ Brokeback mountain], which I think maybe over time is more understood, is that this is about two people desperately looking for love. To be loved. And who were probably capable of it. And they just found it with someone of the same sex.that does not dismiss the fact that it is about, really, primarily, the first kind of very profound gay love story. Hopefully it can create an equality of an idea: that is, it's possible that you can find love anywhere.
We were talking about the kissing in the movie just recently. Clearly, it's pretty challenging material, but Ang said two men herding sheep was far more sexual than two men having sex on screen.
I've never had sex with boxers on and it's an odd thing to watch actors do. That's not saying I haven't tried... I just don't recommend it!
When I was in 'Jarhead,' I felt really good about my body, really confident,
Working on a movie like 'Prince of Persia' was awesome. It was great fun to be an action hero and to jump around, running off walls and fighting and having great quippy lines.
I think something more formulaic was expected. But this movie is not just about the experience of a soldier, but also of a human being. We live in a world that is not always full of action.
I thought I was a long shot, but this was a role I was going to fight for.
That was so scary, the last scene Heath and I shot together. We finally get to say to each other what we want to say, and I was really nervous because there were so many emotions, and both men have been holding so much back. Luckily, the dialogue is so great that it worked out.
I think that more and more there's a sense that the best performances I can give are the ones that are the truest to who I am. The further I move away from who I am, the worse they are.
I would really love to direct one day. I think there are certain actors who love the character and the performance and that's all they want to be a part of.
Usually, the action's moving so fast, you don't get the opportunity to see the psychology, really,
I'm going to continue doing what I want to do. And if it means I want to go and make a big movie, if it has something to say, I will want to make it. I don't want to spend my life wasting my time. If it's a big movie, I want to do it. If it's a small movie, I want to do it.