Jake Gyllenhaal Quotes

“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.”

“Ask yourself why a red carpet is red. It could be any colour.”

“Brokeback Mountain' takes all your conceptions of America, and the Western, and cowboys, and sexuality, and love, and it stirs them all up.”

“Chris Cooper once told me to never have any regrets. After Chris said that to me, I walk into every scene thinking, 'exhaust every possibility.' Once you get to a certain place, it's like you just deliver everything you've got. Don't have any regrets. It pops up in my mind over and over and over again.”

“Crazy people don't sit around wondering if they're nuts.”

“Do I take care of my body and take conditioning seriously? Yes.”

“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.”

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

“Every journey starts with fear.”

“Every man goes through a period of thinking they're attracted to another guy.”

“I am inherently a little brother – that's just my nature. It has to do with my sister being very strong and wanting to protect me. It's the natural order of things.”

“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?”

“I did a lot of background and research on 'End Of Watch,' and I definitely used certain skills that I learned.”

“I don't always think it's necessary for somebody to be nice all the time.”

“I don't think I'm sharp enough to not prepare and come on set and kill it.”

“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.”

“I don't think you can approach any piece of art with boundaries or rules. I think respect is a very important thing, but I also think what we discover along the way is really important.”

“I grew up in a family where many of our close friends were gay couples. As well as that, every man goes through a period of thinking they're attracted to another guy.”

“I grew up on movie sets, so it was something I just found familiar. When I was growing up also, in high school, I would audition for things and my parents let me audition for things – with the thought that I wouldn't get them. And then I would get them... sometimes, and it would surprise them.”

“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.”

“I have an overactive brain, and as a result of that, I can really get in my own mind. So I like to try and exercise it to the point of exhaustion.”

“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?”

“I hope I'm a spiritual person. I'm trying to be a spiritual person.”

“I like the idea of the adventurer's spirit. I think that is very much what a man searches for, in a certain way.”

“I liken movies to playing a piano: Sometimes you're playing the chords and different notes with unresolved cadences and playing all major chords that are all over the place, and you're enjoying yourself with a great, simple melody.”

“I love 'Training Day' – that's a great movie.”

“I love movies that are saying things that people might find odd at times. I don't find them odd at all. They give me comfort.”

“I remember being in college knowing I didn't want to go anymore. I wanted to try and become an actor. There is a something in me, with a risk of sounding cliche, that I just had to do it. I knew from an early age that acting was my path.”

“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!”

“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.”