Jake Gyllenhaal is ready to transition into his biggest role yet: being a dad.
The 39-year-old Southpaw star opened up about how his family helped shape him into the man he is today in a recent interview with British Vogue — and made a rare comment about his dreams of having children one day.
“Yes, of course I [want kids],” he admitted. “I definitely do. … I’m not someone who has ever existed in a space where I’ve really known what’s coming next. But you do have to be open to it.”
Gyllenhaal was set to reprise the titular role in Stephen Sondheim‘s classic musical Sunday in the Park With George in London this summer, nearly three years after gaining critical acclaim for his Broadway performance of the same show. Though theaters have shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, the California native has continued to use the character of George as inspiration in his personal life.
“‘Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see,’” he said, reciting a line from one of the musical’s tunes before sharing his interpretation of its message. “The real thing is life. You get to the end of the show and that’s what it’s about. Children. Children and art. … I think that’s probably the reason I see the end of the show the way that I see it. I know that’s why I see the end of the show the way that I see it.”
While the Brokeback Mountain actor tends to keep his love life relatively private, he’s maintained a number of high-profile relationships over the years with stars like Kirsten Dunst, Reese Witherspoon and Taylor Swift. More recently, he’s struck up a romance with French model Jeanne Cadieu. The pair were first linked in late 2018, and despite their nearly 15-year age difference, Gyllenhaal is looking forward to settling down.
“I’m interested in my life, even more so than my work. I’ve reached a point in my career where I feel hungry in a different way. I’ve seen how much of my life I’ve neglected as a result of being committed to that work and that idea,” the Spider-Man: Far From Home actor explained. “[I’m] seeing life as something that is, you know, fleeting, and the world being as it is now, I’ve turned to my family, I’ve turned to my friends and I’ve turned to love.”
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