Jake Gyllenhaal at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association press conference for “Nightcrawler” held in Toronto, Canada on September 5, 2014. Photo by: Yoram Kahana_Shooting Star. NO TABLOID PUBLICATIONS. NO USA SALES FOR 30 DAYS.
  • Golden Globe Awards

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

It is no surprise that the talented Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, more popularly known as Jake Gyllenhaal, would end up in the entertainment field as an actor since his parents are also, as they say, in the biz. Acting since the tender age of 11, Jake has claimed his place as one of Hollywood’s top leading performers based on his talent, intelligence and passion for his craft.Born to screenwriter and director parents Stephen and Naomi Gyllenhaal, Jake made his mark in the acting field with impressive performances, including his role as Jack Twist, a confused Wyoming ranch kid, in probably the most controversial movie of his career, Ang Lee’s haunting and heartbreaking drama Brokeback Mountain. The film earned him critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination.Then there is his portrayal of Anthony Swofford, a naïve youth who enlists in the Marine Corps and is trained as a sniper in Sam Mendes’ insightful war drama Jarhead, based on Swofford’s bestselling memoir. Jake was memorable in that role as we saw him mature onscreen and took us to dark places. In David Ayer’s thriller drama, End of Watch, Jake portrayed Brian Taylor, a former Marine-turned-police officer in the Newton Division of the Los Angeles Police Department in South Central Los Angeles. He received accolades from the Critics Choice Movie Awards where he snagged a nom for Best Actor in an Action Movie.There is also his riveting performance in Dennis Villeneuve’s thriller, Prisoners, where he is cast as Detective David Loki who investigates the case of missing children. Jake won kudos from the Hollywood Film Festival and the National Board of Review Awards.In another compelling and memorable performance, Jake took on Lou Bloom, the obsessive, opportunistic and ambitious sociopath who tries to make a living and a name as a news videographer in Dan Gilroy’s debut crime thriller, Nightcrawler. The soulful-eyed actor earned critical raves and is nominated this year for a Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.When we asked Jake how often does he video his own life for his own personal record, he replied, “A ton. Now, you don’t even have to justify narrative anymore in this narrative because you say well, why do they have a camera? Everybody has a camera. Everybody is filming everything that everyone else does and what they do. Everyone is so individually fascinated with their own lives and how they interact with the world and they want to share it with everybody. Rightfully and not rightfully so in certain cases but that is the culture that we live in now.”The 34-year-old Los Angeleno added, “I get a daily picture of my new niece from my brother-in-law and my sister. All the family, we get a picture of the day my niece just started first grade so we got the first grade picture. That is life for us all now. That is how we all interact with the world. It’s on these devices.”He admitted that he does take more videos to have those mementos. He revealed, “Actually, more and more recently, I like to have those mementos. I think also, there is something opening up in myself many times. Or, I maybe just getting a little older. Plus, having an iPhone and having great resolution, it is so easy that I love sending photos or videos. I would rather send a picture or a video of where I am to the people I care about than even a text message so that relationship to the cameras in my life has changed.“But I remember when I was a little kid, I remember my dad having the big 40 times size of that and I remember it feeling like a whale on my shoulder. I remember it being this big and holding it. I do not know if my sister and I were really taped a lot. I do not remember that so much. But I remember a lot of that video camera.”