Every actor knows the struggle of losing a part — but for teenaged Jake Gyllenhaal, losing out on Disney’s “The Mighty Ducks” was too much to bear.
The “Southpaw” star spoke with Howard Stern this week ahead of the boxing movie’s release, and revealed that his showbiz-centric family forbade him from taking the role in the beloved 1992 hockey film starring Emilio Estevez and Joshua Jackson.
“I definitely remember crying on the kitchen counter,” Gyllenhaal told Stern. “I was like, ‘You guys are crazy.’”
His parents, director Stephen Gyllenhaal and writer Naomi Foner, weren’t without cause — they prioritized his education over his career.
“My parents were like, ‘Look, you’re about to enter junior high school, you gotta get your education, that’s the most important thing. I promise you, you hate us now, but you’ll thank us later,’” said Gyllenhaal. “And I do.”
The actor heeded his parents advice — his breakout didn’t come until 2001 with the films “Donnie Darko” and “Bubble Boy,” when Jake was of legal drinking age. But we mourn the Gyllenhaal-Jackson bromance that could’ve been.
The actor will next been seen in Tom Ford’s presumably stylish and sensual “Nocturnal Animals,” opposite Amy Adams.