30 Days and 16 Years: A Pin Up History of Jake Gyllenhaal and Austin Nichols - Day 28

"It was during casting of TDAT, Austin walked in and the rest was history. They [Jake & Austin] couldn't take 

their eyes off each other. " 

~ Comment from the Original Waiting for Toothy Blogspot 

As if Jake and Austin weren't seeing enough of each other on set and in that movie trailer they were sharing during the six-month filming schedule of The Day After Tomorrow, they decided to do an IFC short film with co-star Emmy Rossum. Ah, ain't young love grand. Maybe they thought having Austin cozy up with Emmy would give him some straight cred too. Remember PR had already used Emmy to market straight Jake for the movie. Replacing Jake's real life falling hard for Austin Nichols at the TDAT auditions, with an over the top, constantly repeated "re-creation" of Emmy's "audition" with Jake. The ol' full-out snogging tale accompanied with the following quote for good measure from Emmy:

"It had to be. There was no choice for me. It was gonna be there. It also wasn't difficult. He's terribly attractive. So it wasn't like the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my whole life but, at the same time, I think the heat had to be there. Somebody had to melt the ice! (laughter)."

Of course, everyone who promoted this story, forgot to mention that Emmy was only 15-years old when she auditioned for TDAT in July 2002 (her birthday is September 12, 1986). Way to go, Hollywood. You would rather promote 21-year old Jake, the pedophile, than Jake the healthy young man who fell head over heels in love with a 22-year old Austin Nichols. What's even more predictable is that Roland Emmerich, the openly gay director of The Day After Tomorrow, was the original source of the Emmy-Jake rumor. Which would later be picked up and be part of the often repeated audition mythology for the film:

According to Roland Emmerich, Emmy Rossum gave Jake Gyllenhaal a deep French kiss during their first read together. 

Emmerich, by the way, is also the one who specifically asked for a still relatively unknown, 21-year old Jake Gyllenhaal for the role of Sam, and who kept expanding Austin's role to give him more screen time with Jake. So much for Jake's management team's insistence that those pesky "rumors" about him being gay all stemmed from his having the "bravery" to do Brokeback Mountain. With a doubt, many people knew then just as they know now.

More proof that insiders were aware of Jake's true preferences was also flagrantly on display at the NY premiere of The Day After Tomorrow on May 24, 2004. Not only did Jake arrive with his high profile beard in tow (Kirsten Dunst), but Austin needed to be paired up too (hand holding always a nice touch, just in case people missed the message being sent), even though mainstream audiences had no clue who Claire Oswalt was. She was female and that was enough. Six weeks later, Kirsten announced that she and Jake had broken up and Austin was seen with his beard only one more time in September before he also admitted that he and Claire had parted ways. Great timing, fellas!

Oh, and the added restriction at the premiere that was quite telling was that even though Jake and Austin were inseparable on the TDAT set, and as we learned with the Club Lotus party a little over a month after they met, becoming inseparable in their personal lives as well, they were not allowed to take one photo at the TDAT premiere. Not even a cast group shot. Not one. Not allowed to be seen together even though they were in the same movie. Hmm. I wonder why that would be? Seeing as they became such close friends during the filming.

Interview with Austin Nichols for YM magazine: 

Hardest part to film: His scenes with Jake. "He was always making faces at me, trying to crack me up," says Austin. "It usually worked too. I was trying to be all serious and I'd see him sticking his tongue out and I'd lose it."

Fave on-set pastime: Cooking with Jake. They usually make Mexican food, but Austin's most proud of their make-it-up-as-you-go-along chicken dish. "We put three full chickens in a huge pan with shallots, garlic, onions, radishes, and seasoning." Sounds tasty.

In fact, this lone photo shows just how physically close the two men got that day for the cameras. Austin's eyes squarely on Jake. Just as it should be. Just as it is today.

pic sources: IHJ, Oh My Godot, YouTube, IFC
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