Jake Gyllenhaal: Family is not everything to me, but it’s pretty damn close

The Hollywood actor said there is ‘always something to learn’ from family, no matter how ‘fraught or joyous’ the relationships are.
Jake Gyllenhaal: family is not everything to me, but it’s pretty damn close (Richard Shotwell/AP)
AP
Mike Bedigan16 November 2022

Jake Gyllenhaal says he is at a stage in his life where family is “not everything to me, but it’s pretty damn close”.

The Hollywood actor said there is “always something to learn” from family, no matter how “fraught or joyous” the relationships are.

He is currently set to star in upcoming Disney animated movie Strange World, alongside Dennis Quaid and Jaboukie Young-White – which follows the story of a legendary family of explorers.

The film explores the relationships between three generations of men – grandfather, father and son – as well as wider themes of family and legacy.

Speaking to the PA news agency about his own family at the premiere of the Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday, Gyllenhaal said: “In my life family has moved and divided and changed in so many different ways.

“You go through a phase in your life where it’s absolutely everything, it’s your means of survival.

“Then you grow up and you just sort of denounce it at a certain point in your life, you go ‘I don’t need any of that’.

“Then you come back and you realise how important all of those people are, no matter how complicated those relationships are, no matter how fraught they can be.

“And no matter how joyous or full of love there’s always something to learn.

He added: “At this point in my life family means something very different than it did to me at all different stages. I think it’s the most important thing, the most nourishing, sometimes the most frustrating.

“It’s not everything to me, but it’s pretty damn close.”

Speaking about his famous family and sister, Oscar-nominated actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, he said: “My family all grew up professionals… and yes, some of us are in the entertainment industry and do that job.

“But when we come back to each other, particularly my sister and I… the most precious times for us is when we get to spend time with just her and me and my nieces and my mother-in-law, my girlfriend – those times for us are the most nourishing.”

Strange World also stars Gabrielle Union and Lucy Liu.

It is due for release in the UK on November 23.