In 2005, Gyllenhaal portrayed Anthony “Swoff” Swofford in Jarhead, Harold Dobbs in Proof, and Jack Twist in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. For his performance in Brokeback Mountain, he received critical acclaim and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Acting for life
Gyllenhaal has always been one to take on challenging roles in provocative fare, dating back to his breakout role as a troubled teen in “Donnie Darko.” In the years that followed, the actor worked with a series of notable directors including Sam Mendes (“Jarhead”) and David Fincher (“Zodiak”). After experiencing a minor setback with “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” his first bid at a blockbuster franchise, Gyllenhaal returned to the dark character studies he made his name on. His latest, “Enemy,” from his “Prisoners” director and good friend Denis Villeneuve, opens March 14 and is currently available to…
Journey to Hollywood
Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in ‚Brokeback Mountain‘ „I wasn’t really quite sure where he came from, and I think that’s the feeling most people got when they were around him and why he was so extraordinary,“ Gyllenhaal recalls. Ten years after Jake Gyllenhaal starred in the landmark Brokeback Mountain — and almost eight years after the death of co-star Heath Ledger — the actor said he had no qualms about taking the role when it came his way.
Before Acting Career
Born on December 19, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, Jake Gyllenhaal worked as a child actor in films like City Slickers and A Dangerous Woman before starring in the indie classic Donnie Darko in 2001. He later starred opposite Heath Ledger in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, for which Gyllenhaal received a supporting actor Oscar nomination. Other films on the Gyllenhaal roster include Proof, Jarhead, Prisoners and Nightcrawler as well as the Broadway production Constellations. Early Life Actor Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, better known as Jake Gyllenhaal, was born on December 19, 1980, in Los Angeles, California. The son of director Stephen…
American Dream
Jake Gyllenhaal has really big eyes. He lost a massive amount of weight to play Lou Bloom, the drifter antihero of director Dan Gilroy’s excellent thriller Nightcrawler. And above sunken cheeks, those eyes of his look positively enormous. Lou explains he’s “a quick learner” – and thanks to Gyllenhaal’s uncanny, mesmerising performance, you can just about see Lou’s brain whirring. I noticed what he notices. And Lou’s only moment of genuine emotion in the film comes when he breaks a mirror in rage, gazing at his own face.