Jake Gyllenhaal Dennis Quaid as his father. In his theatrical debut, Gyllenhaal starred on the London stage in Kenneth Lonergan's revival of "This Is Our Youth" at the Garrick Theatre in 2002. Gyllenhaal said, "Every actor I look up to has done theatre work, so I knew I had to give it a try." The play, which had been a critical sensation on Broadway, ran for eight weeks in London's West End. Gyllenhaal received favorable critical reviews and an Evening Standard Theatre Award in the category "Outstanding Newcomer". In 2005, Gyllenhaal starred in the critically praised films "Proof", "Jarhead", and "Brokeback Mountain".
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