Jake Gyllenhaal Calls Gay Rumors ‘A Huge Compliment’
Jake Gyllenhaal isn’t offended by questions about his sexuality after playing a gay cowboy in the 2005 Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain. In fact, the actor thinks the rumors are highly complimentary.
In an upcoming episode of Inside the Actors Studio, the 32-year-old also talked about his relationship with co-star Heath Ledger, whose death he said “felt like losing a family member, and it still does to this day.”
Gyllenhaal and Ledger first met when they both auditioned for the 2001 film Moulin Rouge.
“I remember him just saying, like, ‘F**k Baz [Luhrmann, the film’s director],’ and I remember thinking, ‘I like this guy, he’s just like super lovable,” he said. “And Brokeback came and they said, ‘Ang wants this combination, you and Heath.’ And I was like, ‘Heath Ledger?'”
Gyllenhaal also said that the gay rumors that started circulating after the film came out were a “huge compliment” but that he prefers “t**s and a**.”
Since Brokeback Mountain‘s release, Gyllenhaal has dated Rendition co-star Reese Witherspoon and Taylor Swift. He began dating model Alyssa Miller this summer.
Jake Gyllenhaal isn’t the only actor to take pride in rumors about his sexuality. Following his Comedy Central roast, James Franco said he wished he was gay. Franco also went on to say that the stuff that happened off camera was even worse.
“There’s two sides to what happened in the roast. If that’s what they were going to make fun of me for, I was like, ‘Great! Bring on the gay jokes!’ because these aren’t insults at all,” he said. “I don’t even care if people think I’m gay, so it was like, ‘Awesome!’ I mean, I wish I was… I wish I was gay.”
Franco went on to say that some of the jokes were more disturbing than funny.
“I’m not necessarily up on the comedy world, so it’s interesting to see what’s acceptable as far as gay jokes and Indian jokes. They had to cut about 40-60 minutes of it,” he said. “But Jeff Ross was saying some crazy s***. They weren’t even funny, these jokes, they just gave me nightmares. He was referencing the Ohio kidnapper dude, abortion, it was just like… ‘oh, God.'”
Jake Gyllenhall’s episode of Inside the Actors Studio premieres September 19 on Bravo. His new film, Prisoners, which co-stars Hugh Jackman, is set to be released September 20.
[Photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]
