Jake Gyllenhaal

Son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner. Younger brother of Maggie Gyllenhaal. His godmother is Jamie Lee Curtis and godfather is cinematographer, Robert Elswit.

(June 1998) Attended and graduated from Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California.

Jakes father has English, Swedish, Swiss-German, German, and distant Welsh and French, ancestry. Jakes mothers family is Jewish (from Poland and Latvia).

His fans refer to themselves as "Gyllenhaalics".

He was awarded the 2002 London Evening Standard Theate Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performance in "This is Our Youth" at the Garrick Theatre in London, England.

Was set to play Spider-Man in Spider-Man 2 due to Tobey Maguire having injured his back while filming Seabiscuit . While Gyllenhaal was preparing for the role, Tobey recovered to reprise his role as Spider-Man.

Attended high school with "Freaks and Geeks" star Jason Segel and Ayda Field.

Was named one of People magazines 50 Hottest Bachelors [2004].

Close friends with Natalie Portman and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Attended elementary school with band members of Maroon 5.

On Phantom Planets album "The Guest", lead singer Alex Greenwald lists him in his thank yous. Alex appeared with Jake in Donnie Darko .

His favorite book is "To Kill a Mockingbird", and he has two dogs, Atticus and Boo named after characters in the novel.

Auditioned for and was one of the top contenders for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins .

Before success as an actor, he worked as a lifeguard. He never had any life-saving incidents, but did perform one lesser rescue. A swimmer had been stung on the leg by a jellyfish, and Gyllenhaal helped relieve the pain of the stings by urinating on the swimmers leg.

Although they broke up in July 2004, he and Kirsten Dunst had an on and off relationship up until 2006.

Gained five pounds of muscle for his role in Jarhead .

When asked who his idols are, he said Anthony Quinn , Paul Newman , Sean Penn , Bruce Springsteen and Bono.

Spent two years at Columbia University, where one of his professors was Robert Thurman , Uma Thurman s father.

Godfather of Matilda Ledger , born October 28, 2005 (daughter of actor Heath Ledger and actress Michelle Williams.

Was among the guests at Jessica Simpson s 25th birthday party on July 10, 2005.

He gave Kirsten Dunst a gray and white kitten for her birthday. She named the cat Sophie.

Ranked #48 on Premiere magazines 2006 "Power 50" list. It is his first appearance on the list.

His first four big roles were in movies with alliterated titles: Bubble Boy , Donnie Darko , Moonlight Mile and The Good Girl .

Invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2006.

Studied acting with Ivana Chubbuck.

Along with sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal , he attended Camp Walt Whitman, an outdoors summer camp in Western New Hampshire.

Uncle of Ramona Sarsgaard, born October 3, 2006. She is the daughter of his older sister Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard.

His uncle, Anders Gyllenhaal, is senior vice president and executive editor of The Miami Herald in Miami, Florida.

Good friends with Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey.

Like all Gyllenhaals on the male line, he is a Swedish nobleman by birth right and is listed in the Swedish Almanac of Nobility ("Sveriges ridderskaps- och adelskalender" in Swedish).

Campaigned for the Democrats in the 2004 US election.

As of 2014, has starred in three movies where he played not only a real person, but the person who wrote the book upon which the film was based: Homer H. Hickam Jr. ( October Sky ), Anthony Swofford ( Jarhead ) and Robert Graysmith ( Zodiac ).

(June 2007) Voted #10 in Elle (France) magazines "15 Sexiest Men" poll.

Had his Bar Mitzvah party at a homeless shelter, something his parents encouraged to help him recognize how privileged his own childhood had been (a Bar Mitzvah is the coming-of-age service that Jewish boys celebrate at age 13).

He appeared on the television series episode, "Homicide: Life on the Street" {Bop Gun (#2.1)} , which was directed by his father, Stephen Gyllenhaal.

Was personally approved by Joe Namath to play the football legend in a proposed biopic about the latters life.

Was ranked #8 on Entertainment Weeklys 30 Under 30 the actors list .

Very good friends with actress Jennifer Aniston.

Brother-in-law of Peter Sarsgaard.

He and sister Maggie Gyllenhaal are the first siblings to be Oscar-nominated for acting in the 21st century.

Parents Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner divorced in 2009.

Had a childhood crush on Martha Plimpton. He met her when she appeared in Running on Empty , which was written by Jakes mother Naomi Foner.

Has appeared on the cover of GQ magazine three times: June 2004, February 2007 and May 2010.

Along with Matt Damon , he was the studios first choice for the role of Jake Sully in Avatar , but director James Cameron chose to cast the (back then) more unknown Sam Worthington in the lead role instead.

Became good friends with Austin Nichols while filming The Day After Tomorrow .

His parents forbade him to be in The Mighty Ducks , as the film would have taken him out of town for two months (it was shot in Minnesota).

Auditioned for the role of Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson s Lord of the Rings trilogy, but lost out to Elijah Wood.

Introduced his friend Michelle Williams s film My Week with Marilyn at the 69th Golden Globe Awards on January 15, 2012.

Gyllenhaal, Leonardo DiCaprio , Tilda Swinton , Marion Cotillard , Emma Thompson , Tom Hanks , Daniel Brhl and Amy Adams are the only actors to receive a Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics Choice Award nominations for the same performance and then fail to be Oscar-nominated for it: for their performances in Nightcrawler , The Departed , We Need to Talk About Kevin , De rouille et dos , Saving Mr. Banks , Captain Phillips , Rush (2013/I) and Arrival , respectively.

Is a fan of Marion Cotillard and presented her the Best Actress award (for The Immigrant and Deux jours, une nuit ) at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on January 5, 2015, calling himself a fan of her work and saying of her career, "I cant think of a better word to use than spectacular.".

Jakes mentor is Chris Cooper , with whom he has co-starred in three films: October Sky , Jarhead , and Demolition .

Member of the Official Competition jury at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2012.

With his Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Brokeback Mountain , he was the last male aged 25 or under to have received an Academy Award nomination for acting until Lucas Hedges for Manchester by the Sea (age at the time of nomination).

In Jarhead his character was a marine, in End of Watch his character was a former marine.

He was David S Goyers first choice for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins.

I admire actors and artists who devote just as much time to their life,as they do to their work.

In a perfect world, I would love to do one play for every three movies.

Coming from a family where my mom is a writer, I just respond to how,people speak.

We live in a sad time where actors are politicians and politicians are,actors.

I think my strength is to do a take all the way through. I am definitely,not someone who can do a sprint. Maybe I am not that smart, but it,takes me a while to find the moment, and I like to be pushed toward it.

When you grow up there is some compromising to do. But compromising,creative instinct is never good.

[on training for the police movie, End of Watch (2012) ] We were,all Tased. The whole cast. We decided that we thought it would be a,sort of semi-bonding experience. When we had a choice between between,pepper spray and being Tased, we were told by the professionals that,Tasing was probably the preference because pepper spray lasts for a,long time after. And a Tase is done in moments. Se we decided to go for,quick and painful.

My parents were relatively progressive in their spiritual beliefs: my,father is Christian and my mother is Jewish. On my 13th birthday, they,thought it was important for me to experience a rite of passage, an,entrance into manhood, and the consensus was that we would do something,for the good of the community, some charitable work - a barmitzvah-like,act, without the typical trappings. So we went to a homeless shelter,and we did some work there and then I had the party - the celebration -,there.

My dad descends from the Swedish Gyllenhaal family, a noble lineage that,my ancestor Nils Gunnarsson Haal established in the 17th century and,which has been very influential in Sweden for a long time. My,great-grandfather emigrated to the USA. But I see myself as a Jew since,my mother is a Russian-Jewish New Yorker.

Something about watching a child and his ability to be honest, and his,desperation for honesty, even in the midst of all the adults,surrounding them, which is essentially what that movie is about, and,the performance itself is so present and exists on its own even today.

I have a mentor. I have. . . guides. I have a lot of guides. Not a lot, but people whose opinions I really respect and who I will turn to.

Every journey starts with fear.