For the benefit of Paul (southendmd), and anyone else who didn't catch it, I thought I'd share a bit about Jake's appearance on 'The Daily Show' last night. Jake was in fine form as always, gracious and in good humor, and seemed to enjoy a good rapport with host Jon Stewart, who seemed much more on Mr. Gyllenhaal's wavelength than did Dave Letterman from two nights ago.
Jake came out with a basketball, with which he good-naturedly taunted Stewart, the specifics of which eluded me (I was watching the show under less-than-ideal circumstances). Stewart said something to the effect of how much the Oscars were wanting this year due to his and Jake's absence--a nice riposte, to my mind, of how Jake and
Brokeback Mountain failed to garner top prize in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture categories in 2006. Stewart went on to say how much his wife was taken with Jake at that time, and how much she still talks about him (she sounds like a full-fledged Gyllenaalic!). There was also much banter on how Jon insisted on how much he and Jake look alike (wink wink, nudge nudge), and Jake was always there to match the host's quick wit point for point.
The best part for me was that Stewart mentioned
Brokeback Mountain twice, once when he was introducing Jake, and lastly when he joked that, as Jake had debuted in
City Slickers (starring Billy Crystal),
Brokeback Mountain was not thus his "first gay cowboy movie".