8 Times Jake Gyllenhaal Fought His Own Hotness (And Won)
5. Zodiac (2007)
By the time Zodiac came out, Jake had been in the public eye, as an adult, for 6 years. We knew he was gorgeous. We all saw Brokeback Mountain and wept and a few of us even saw The Good Girl and wept again, though this time we were just overwhelmed by how much better at acting Jennifer Aniston was than wed realised. There was reason to believe hed turned a corner and accepted his looks as a fact of life to be embraced rather than muted at every turn.
Zodiac is about a serial killer. So... OK, that doesnt immediately scream sexy romp but lets dive in. Its based on real events which means its quite hard to get caught up in the fun of the storytelling because, well, there are real dead people involved. And the serial killer was never found so unless you are turned on by the existential dread brought on by the knowledge that theres a murderer on the loose, this probably wont be the carefree celebration of Jakes bone structure that you were holding out for.
Still! There could be hope. Did Jake play the gruff detective on the case? A mysterious and charismatic suspect? Or, I dont know, an Olympic diver who was peripherally involved somehow and spent the whole movie in a pool? No. Jake played a political cartoonist, meaning he spent a significant portion of the movie bent over a desk under unflattering lights. Truly impressive strategy.