Uta Hagen would say, there’s the representational actor and the presentational actor. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Everybody is an actor in one way or another. We are all performing certain things. — Jake Gyllenhaal

In that way, as an actor in particular, you’re powerless. And so in that way as an actor in particular you can’t make mistakes. — Jake Gyllenhaal

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! — Jake Gyllenhaal

I think as an actor you have to be open to your emotions–that’s how you tap into other characters. Besides, by being so open I’ve come to terms with how screwed I am! — Jake Gyllenhaal

I’ve decided as an actor the only, the power I have really is in the performance. It’s the only real place I get to sort of communicate. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Even as an actor, I think like a storyteller. My parents raised us to look at the script. — Jake Gyllenhaal

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. — Jake Gyllenhaal

They’re the darkest people I know, comedians. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I think that we all have within us the potential for almost anything. If we play close attention to our lives, then we can get at it somehow. — Jake Gyllenhaal

My experience on ‘Jarhead’ was life changing. — Jake Gyllenhaal

If you’re going to spend seven months of your life–for me seven months, for Roland Emmerich, 3, 4, 5 years of his life–doing something, I think you have to have something to say. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Don’t listen to what anybody says except the people who encourage you. If it’s what you want to do and it’s within yourself, then keep going and try to do it for the rest of your life. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Most of the things that I learn are from the women in my life. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Being a star doesn’t last. That’s not what life should be about. It’s a complete illusion that really has nothing to do with you. For me, finding out about life is the most important thing. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I don’t think my approach to acting is all necessarily in service of the character. I think, selfishly, I’ve put it in service of myself, my perspective on the world and helping my life. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I think you hear a lot of people say ‘I support the troops’ and all of that, but I really feel deeply that I do. — Jake Gyllenhaal

It was incredibly cathartic. you feel like a kid. — Jake Gyllenhaal

It bothers me when people say, ‘Oh, you’re so down to earth–for an actor.’ Even when they don’t say ‘for an actor,’ I feel like that’s the implication. Why are the standards so low for performers? — Jake Gyllenhaal

When I walk into a screening, I’m nervous in a different way than I am as an actor. But the response is ultimately I know how I feel about it and that’s what matters to me the most. — Jake Gyllenhaal

As an actor, I feel like I’m somebody who, when somebody gives me a mark, I don’t want to hit it. I don’t like that. But then, without even knowing it, I just hit it. — Jake Gyllenhaal

When somebody’s really good, they’re not just thinking about their job. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I think I work as hard as I do now, because of a lot of lessons I’ve learned early on. — Jake Gyllenhaal

In work, never have any regrets and always leave everything on the field. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I love artists. I love watching other people work. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I think my family love each other so much and expect so much from each other, and I think we expect a type of honesty in the work that we all do. — Jake Gyllenhaal

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

My parents taught me as a kid: do your work. Do it well. Try as hard as you can, whatever it is. It will one day, for the long run, it will make some sort of change somewhere. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I don’t always think it’s necessary for somebody to be nice all the time. — Jake Gyllenhaal

As an actor, no matter what, you’re at the whim of so many other people all the time. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Really, contrary to popular belief, I like to have a good time and not take myself too seriously. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I had not spent a ton of time around animals as a kid. — Jake Gyllenhaal

It’s amazing how the world has changed because, at that time [2005], a lot of actors didn’t want to play a gay role. — Jake Gyllenhaal

When you have the opportunity to choose projects, inevitably you start being moved towards the things that you’re moved by, right? And that changes over time, as we change, right? — Jake Gyllenhaal

I’m a very political person, and I make political choices in my movies. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I heard about the movie business before I even knew what it was. So I surround myself now with people who are like, ‘Can we not talk about movies for an hour?’ — Jake Gyllenhaal

I can’t make a movie unless I believe in the themes behind it. I mean, that’s the first question I ask myself, always, is, ‘What is this movie about?’ — Jake Gyllenhaal

I’ve become obsessed with learning other languages in movies, because I was like, since I was like, but I learned how to box so why don’t I just learn another language for a movie? — Jake Gyllenhaal

My mum raised us on classic movies and a lot of musical theatre. — Jake Gyllenhaal

There are tons of times throughout the movie where you’re laughing, it’s just an awkward journey through a pretty seemingly ordinary situation. — Jake Gyllenhaal

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. — Jake Gyllenhaal

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. — Jake Gyllenhaal

I think family is the most important thing in the world. I think your own family is the most complicated thing in the world, and I think it’s the most beautiful thing in the world. — Jake Gyllenhaal

To me Donnie Darko was about adolescence. And about how, as soon as you start to grow up and you sort of move out into the world, you realize everything is so trippy. That anything can be anything. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Not to say that you should be constantly trying to change the world, but I think it’s important to know that whatever we do has an implication and has an effect, and because of that it is political. — Jake Gyllenhaal

As much as I am one for real human interaction, I also want to make a show that’s entertaining and that people want to see. — Jake Gyllenhaal

Heath [Ledger] was always somebody who I admired.He was way beyond his years as a human, in a way. — Jake Gyllenhaal