Jake Gyllenhaal says being legally blind is ‘helpful’

Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t always wear glasses in his movies, e.g Road house, Night crawlerAnd Brokeback MountainBut he definitely needs them in real life.

The actor was born with a “naturally resolved” lazy eye, has been wearing corrective lenses since he was 6, and is still legally blind, according to a new profile in Hollywood Reporter. His vision now is 20/1250.

But he doesn’t mind.

“I like to think it’s helpful,” he told the outlet. “I’ve never known anything else. When I can’t see in the morning, before I put my glasses on, this is where I can be with myself.”

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In fact, Gyllenhaal used his blindness to enhance his acting; While filming a scene in SouthpawAccording to the article, “Gyllenhaal removed his communications to force himself to listen closely” when the police tell his character of his wife’s death.

Next up, Gyllenhaal is the next star in the Apple TV+ series Innocent, a courtroom thriller from writer David E. Kelley and executive producer JJ Abrams, based on the best-selling novel by Scott Turow. Gyllenhaal plays Deputy District Attorney Rusty Sabich who is involved in a murder.

The audience will see the actor wearing a pair of glasses in this role. He said his character in the series was modeled after his godfather, the late Paul Newman, and wears his glasses in the middle of a button-up shirt, just like Newman.

“He was also wearing it hanging from his ear and things like that,” Gyllenhaal said.

The Oscar-nominated actor knew Newman because of his parents, director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, who was nominated for an Oscar for her film. Fuel free In 1988.

The actor also expressed his admiration for the talent of his older sister, director and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, and explained that he became interested in acting after he saw her appear in her middle school production of the film. South Pacific.

“My sister was always great,” he said. “What it did was introduce something to me that I would inevitably always be chasing. I took a step and did something and I’m like, ‘Whoa, oh my God—.’ Okay, I’ll try that.”

Apple TV+ eight-episode limited series Innocent Premieres on Wednesday, June 12.