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 positive reviews, with Roger Ebert saying that ""End of Watch" is one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso fusion of performances and often startling action", and Salon.com's Andrew O'Hehir stating that the film was "at least the best cop movie since James Gray's "We Own the Night", and very likely since Antoine Fuqua's memorable "Training Day" (which, not coincidentally, was written by Ayer)". To train for the role, Gyllenhaal took tactical training and participated in actual police drives with co-star Michael Peña to help establish the language of the characters. Gyllenhaal appeared in two films directed