Jake Gyllenhaal began, Gyllenhaal praised his encouraging direction of the actors and sensitive approach to the material. At the Directors Guild of America Awards on January 28, 2006, Gyllenhaal also praised Lee for "his humbleness and his respect for everyone around him". When asked about his kissing scenes with Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain", Gyllenhaal said, "As an actor, I think we need to embrace the times we feel most uncomfortable." When asked about the more intimate scenes with Ledger, Gyllenhaal likened them to "doing a sex scene with a woman I'm not particularly attracted to". Following the release of "Brokeback Mountain",
Jake Gyllenhaal Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. A member of the Gyllenhaal family and the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting as a child with a screen debut in "City Slickers" (1991), followed by roles in "A Dangerous Woman" (1993) and "Homegrown" (1998). His breakthrough performance was as Homer Hickam in "October Sky" (1999) and he garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead for playing the title character in the indie cult hit "Donnie Darko" (2001), in which he played a psychologically troubled teenager