Jake Gyllenhaal In "Proof", featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins, Gyllenhaal played a graduate student in mathematics who tries to convince Paltrow's character to publish a revolutionary proof to a problem puzzling the mathematicians' community. In "Jarhead", Gyllenhaal played a violent U.S. Marine during the first Gulf War. He also auditioned to be Batman for the blockbuster "Batman Begins" and came close to getting the role, but Christian Bale was ultimately chosen for it. In "Brokeback Mountain", Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger play young men who meet as sheep herders and embark upon a sexual relationship that begins in the summer of 1963
Jake Gyllenhaal well received by critics; Gary Mairs of Culture Vulture wrote that "Gyllenhaal manages the difficult trick of seeming both blandly normal and profoundly disturbed, often within the same scene." After the critical success of "Donnie Darko", Gyllenhaal's next role was as Pilot Kelston in 2002's "Highway" alongside Jared Leto. His performance was described by one critic as "silly, cliched and straight to video". Gyllenhaal had more success starring opposite Jennifer Aniston in "The Good Girl", which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival; he also starred in "Lovely and Amazing" with Catherine Keener. In both films he plays an unstable