Acting runs in Jake's blood; he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and producer/screenwriter Naomi Foner. His sister Maggie is an actress (she…more
Jake: 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: (believing everyone is a potential serial killer, including himself) The idea of a serial killer is whatever we fear within ourselves. It's our own psyche, in a way. To me, the serial killer is obsession, and to me the serial killer is aspects of people's personalities that they don't want to deal with or that they indulge so much that it is dangerous.
Jake: (on advice to those who want to act)Chris Cooper once told me to never have any regrets. After Chris said that to me, I [now] 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.