How Jake Gyllenhaal Lost 30 Pounds for Latest Movie 'Nightcrawler'
— -- Jake Gyllenhaal's latest movie " Nightcrawler" is due out at the end of the month and a Halloween release date is fitting since the actor's appearance in set photos could easily be categorized as "creepy."
The Oscar-nominated actor takes on the role of Lou Bloom, a photographer who scours the night looking for horrific photos to get the most online traffic.
To take on such a role, Gyllenhaal went to the extreme.
Read: Why Jake Gyllenhaal Was Sent to the Emergency Room
“I made a lot of choices physically,” he told Entertainment Weekly for its latest issue, adding he lost upwards of 30 pounds for the film.
Some of the actor's staples were kale salad and chewing gum to be able to drop such intense weight, he told the magazine. He also ran 15 miles each night and didn't see his friends for weeks.
“The running thing, you’re pretty hungry because you’re not eating a lot of food,” Gyllenhaal added. “You’re lonely because you’re not meeting your friends for dinner. People go, 'Hey you want to meet for dinner after work?’ I go, ‘Well, I’m shooting all night.’ ‘Alright, you want to meet for lunch?’ I’m like, ‘I can’t!’ So I’m gonna go run.”
The actor would have scary run-ins of his own on these long-distance jogs.
“The sun was setting and these animals would come out,” he continued. “I’d have these strange fantasies after mile 10 of, like, being one with all the animals. They are hungry and they are out to get what they are going to get. That was Lou."
