Jake Gyllenhaal is a conundrum. Women consider him a heartthrob and cult fans love him in Donnie Darko. But most guys really don't know how to relate to him. Sure he's an Oscar-nominated actor, but does that really matter that much anymore? Can you name the movie he was nominated for or for that matter, any Academy Award nomination for any arbitrarily named actor, say Johnny Depp? Most of us probably only know him either as Maggie Gyllenhaal's brother or as that one guy in The Day After Tomorrow. Just look at his imdb profile. Honestly, there are very few films of note, and those that do have some merit (like Brokeback Mountain and The Good Girl) aren't necessarily known for Gyllenhaal's involvement. His problem for most people is that he is always stuck in somebody's shadow. He looks almost exactly like Tobey Maguire (side note: interesting that Maguire and Gyllenhaal played brothers in Brothers), and unlike Gyllenhaal, Maguire has starred in the Spiderman trilogy. Though Maguire is not as great of an actor as Gyllenhaal, it only takes one giant role to jump into the public's eye. Then take Heath Ledger, his costar in Brokeback Mountain. How could Gyllenhaal ever compare to Ledger? Like Maguire, Ledger took a role in a superhero movie, but rather than turning in a decent performance, he gave a deserving award-winning performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. And anyone who thinks that Ledger wouldn't have won if he had not died is an insult to arguably the best performance in a superhero film ever. Ever. But Gyllenhaal doesn't have the same recognition as Maguire and he certainly doesn't have the same track record that Ledger has. But Gyllenhaal can make a name for himself and he took a good step by making Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Sure the movie kinda bombed, but he's trying to break out as a superstar actor. He buffed up and though that seemed to please more women than men, it certainly made him at least look like a bona fide action star. He's worked with directors like David Fincher and Ang Lee. He's taking the right steps to becoming a star actor and as long as he builds off the momentum he got from his most recent movie Love and Other Drugs he is on that path. But for now he will be Donnie Darko or Tobey Maguire's look-a-like or Heath Ledger's lover in Brokeback Mountain.
PS: I really wasn't that big of a fan of Donnie Darko. Sure everyone thinks it was the classic movie, but I just think that it was a fustercluck.
Image from zimbio.com
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