Sunday, March 28, 2021

Jake Gyllenhaal: A Passover Tale of 2012 and A Sign of What Was to Come

 And in the category of,

 

Narnia would like to take a trip back to 2012 and speculate about a tweet and twit pic that we've held onto for a number of years.  The fact that the tweet and the account both disappeared at some point, leads us to surmise whether this was one of those "Why did I tweet that?" moments.  Orrrr, was it perhaps something else entirely?  Let's take a closer look.

As some might remember, 2012 was a pivotal year in Jake Gyllenhaal's transformation from a West Coaster to, at least publicly, becoming a resident of the Big Apple. Supposedly, he lived in a NYC apartment in some trendy neighborhood, yet the tweet, as well as the photo, markedly conflicted with the bachelor narrative being sold,

 

 

Or, was the poster jokingly hinting at something else?

If recollection serves correctly, the tweet was not up long and included a twit pic of a large two-story home:


During this time in 2012, there were reasons to believe Jake and Austin had a place on Long Island, NY.  Certainly this type and size of house with a large yard looked like a strong possibility and so a few of us speculated at the time that perhaps the tweet was for real and could have been Jake's house on Long Island.

Now, if one were to go back and look at comment threads on two popular Jake G blogs called Waiting for Toothy 2 (WFT2)  and Gyllenbabble back around the date of April 8, 2012, there were indeed several postings about this tweet.  Followed, of course, by a quick dismissal on WFT2 and also a comment about the tweeter (David_Austin_G) being a "jokester" who was known to fake tweet about celebrities.  In other words, as is so typical when following closeted celebrities there always seems to be someone at the ready with a plausible excuse for a curious occurrence.

Still, just to make things a tad bit more interesting, documentary filmmaker and longtime Jake Gyllenhaal friend, David Modigliani, (co-founder of Flow Studios), also had a professional twitter account that tweeted that same year (2012) in December.  



Hmm. Sounds quite similar in style and phrasing to that Seder tweet just months before, doesn't it?  So could that have been David tweeting from both of those accounts?  And, it is interesting that not only did the Passover tweet disappear, but the @David_Austin_G account no longer exists either.  Maybe the name "David" was based on David Modigliani's first name.  And, "Austin" perhaps was for Austin, TX (where Flow Studios is based)? Who knows? Wouldn't be the first time an embolden friend of Jake's posted something on social media in a winky wink sort of way that subsequently was deleted because the post/pic hit a bit too close to home.

 

Busy Philipps and Hugo Birthday Cake

 


Even if this speculation leads nowhere productive,  there is NONEtheless, a solid reason to still question the Seder tweet. "Why," you might ask?  Well, because of the timeline surrounding the tweet.

• March 26, 2012 - Jake is photo'd in a set called "lunch at Urth Caffe" in Los Angeles, with who?  Who is that in the blue puffy jacket?  It's David Macaroni "Modigliani".

 


 












 

 

How about that?  Jake was hanging with his good friend, David M., right around the time of Passover in 2012.

 

Now, veering off the timeline path for just a moment, here's a nice nugg-ito!!  Look at what Jake was driving for this outing --> Austin's truck!!

 

(As covered in Day 20 "Borrowin' the Big Wheels" of our Masterpost: Thirty Days of Toothy Tile, Grey Goose and the Baby Tiles)

Well, well, well, now!    How about that?

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know, I know.   πŸ˜‰   *speculation moment*  

[So was Austin along with the hubs and David for lunch in Los Angeles, but just not included in the photos????  Did Jake have to take over the wheel so Austin wasn't seen getting into the back of the double cab truck?  Or was this another time when Jake was trusted with the keys to the pick up?  LOL!  Seriously, just kind of wondering why Jake was driving Austin's truck?  Perhaps there was a mulch pick-up to be made on the way home.  Or a Sam's Club stop for cases of peanut butter and pull-ups?  πŸ˜‰]  

Alright, enough.  Now, back to the timeline.


• April 5 - Jake is photo'd with Big Sis Maggie in NYC

• April 6 - Jake is placed at the NYC subway. With his customary NYC ballcap to let us know that he was becoming an official NYC-ite.

 


•  Also on April 6, to lend credence to the subway sighting, Jake was spotted having lunch with pal and fellow WME client John Krazinski (he signed with WME in 2011) and Emily Blunt.



• Soul Cycle.  Spottings on the street.  There was a Page Six story about Jake showing up for a party and making an early exit.  Another lunch sighting at a place called Minerva.




• and then, the crowning placement.  The infamous Passover/Easter stroll by the Gyllenhaal/Peter Sarsgaard fam, looking all kinds of hinky complete with Jake walking backwards?  The bump also looking a bit off-kilter?  There's a reason there is a hand, a purse, and other paraphernalia all positioned in front of Maggie's stomach.

 

matriarch Naomi Foner, Maggie and daughter Ramona

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and another dandy:

supposedly Jake's back and ex-bro-in law Peter


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hinkiness was off the charts, including this picture, yet again with Jake from behind:

 


 

• In contrast, Jake was spotted via Facebook at the Fog City Diner in San Francisco also on April 8 and then, on April 9, he's where? In Toronto, Ontario where he's going to be filming Enemy in May.  Looks like that could be ol' Denis in the denim shirt?

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And by Apr 11, Jake seemed to be firmly entrenched and frequently spotted in Toronto.

 


 

 

 

 

Now, it's only about a 1 1/2 hr commercial flight from NYC to Toronto.  But look at this retweet made on Thursday, April 5, of a message with lots of capping and telling everyone that Jake was going to be at her job in Canada that following Monday, April 9.  

 


 

So, we all were given the heads up and look how that played out.  There was Jake, "officially" out and about in Toronto at a business meal on?  April 9.  πŸ˜„  Played out to perfection, that is sooooo Jake.

Now, looking back at the Seder tweet by David Macaroni "Modigliani" and how quickly everyone dismissed it on both WFT2 and Gyllybabble, there is an interesting comment once we went back through the time machine for this post. From Gyllybabble:

 


 "He suggests he's in LA".  

 

Oh?

 

And there lies the huge red flag.  Now, M&M's take on the Macaroni tweet and the picture used is that yes, he is joking.  In other words, the house is deserted, there's no one around because, why?  

"Jake Gyllenhaal's house before last nights Seder meal..."


And so it wasn't necessarily Jake's house per se, but just a large house (did he pick a huge-ass house on purpose because of Jake's growing fam??? lol) which was deserted and quiet looking, before a sizeable crowd arrived for the Seder meal?

And if, as blogger "Bobbyanna" stated that the account made it sound as though they were in L.A. and this was Macaroni...who was in Los Angeles on March 26 with Jake as seen in the Urth lunch photos from I Heart Jake, could the longtime friend have stayed in town and yes, came to Jake's house for the Seder on April 8.

The tweet disappears because why?  Was it because Jake was not supposed to be in Los Angeles; he was supposed to be in New York City?  This was a mini calamity which happened time after time over the several years that Jake was supposed to be a transplanted New Yorker.  We caught sightings of him repeatedly in Los Angeles when he wasn't supposed to be there, sightings which would be followed by PR's damage control.

We'll never know for sure, will we?  Interestingly enough, in September later that same year of 2012, a story appeared for USA Today, one which ticked many of Jake's narrative boxes. 


And if that's not enough to win you over, Gyllenhaal also is adept behind the stove and is a foodie, in the non-annoying sense. John Lesher, who produced End of Watch and became close friends with Gyllenhaal, says the actor "always knows where to get the best food and the best cup of coffee. He cooks -- I went to Seder dinner at his mom's place and he made all the food, which was spectacular. He made brisket and all kinds of stuff. He's very in touch with his Jewish side. He's always questioning everything. He's not neurotic. If he's going to do something, he's going to do it well." - USA Today September 2012

 

Hmmm.  In 2012?  If Jake lived in NYC, it's kind of curious why the meal wouldn't have been at his place, isn't it?  

Nonetheless, it is a wonderful sign of Jake observing his Jewish heritage from his mother's side, one which became more prominent when he participated in one of the 23 episodes of Shalom Sesame, a series which was focused on educating about Jewish culture and the daily lives of Israeli children.  

In 2011, Jake appeared in this cute segment on hiding his piece of afikomen for Passover.  To understand the tradition of hiding the afikomen at the Seder meal, there is an explanation in this article, Why Do We Hide the Afikomen?  Here's Jake in 2011.



Well done, Jake!!  And isn't that interesting that Jake began to do pieces like this, along with another segment he did with a muppet octopus, and doing a Disney movie, and reading children's books...

 

Almost as though he had his own family.  


Narnia extends Happy Passover greetings to all who observe!

 



pic sources:  Grosinger, Spigelman & Grey, USA Today, Oh My

                     Godot, Daily Fail, tenor, IHeartJake, giphy

our playlist:  Don't Forget Where You Belong - One Direction

                     Home - Blake Shelton

                     Coming Home - Leon Bridges

                     Peace in Our Time - Eddie Money


 

 

3 comments:

prairiegirl said...

And yet once again, in what was supposed to be a short, simple post became a long drawn out one. LOL.

Couldn't help it. It helps now that years later, we have gotten used to some of the customary hijinks that Jake's team and his whole MO has been of GPS placement and his messy interviews. That interview from USA Today was a TRIP. Good lord.

M&M and I were on the phone last night talking at length over this whole episode and what may have happened. And while I no longer at think that was "Jake's house" in Long Island, one thing for sure. Because those "Easter Sunday, post-Passover Seder" pictures are photoshopped, that means Jake wasn't there.

So where was he? He was in LA and then likely they were moving the kids that they had at that time, perhaps getting them settled in Toronto, if indeed Jake had them with him while getting ready to film Enemy.

Because like M&M said and has always made sense, if you have to photoshop pictures, then you're already lying about either where you are or who you're with. And if that's so, then what are you hiding.

Remember, all of this came soon after the winter that was Jaustin - Berlinale, the juice pics, Jake driving Austin's truck, the famous Sushi lunch. Same year.

So Jake was beginning the time period of his "moving to NYC" and so he wasn't supposed to be in Los Angeles anymore, not near as much.

prairiegirl said...

Without going into a lot of detail, it's been tough being able to post as often as I've wanted to. My job is absolutely draining me and has been for awhile now. We're a 24/7 operation (or close to it) and so if the factory is working, then I have work to do, even if I'm not actually physically in the office.

After all, have work laptop, will be able to WFH, right? *eyeroll* And so that's about all I do, work, work, work. Evenings. Weekends. Sometimes it feels like that's all I do.

But not for too much longer. This will change soon. *if I can make it!!!!*

*wink*

It will be wonderful. If I can just make it.

prairiegirl said...

Twitter is quick, it's not as tax'ing. To work on a post requires a bright, awake mind and by evenings, I'm just not in position to work on posts.

So you'll see me on Twitter or even once in a while on Tumblr, but to make posts right now is very very challenging. Then with my Mom's heart attack, even though it was mild, and then her reaction to her second COVID shot, and work, work, work, thus I've just not been as busy on here.

So apologies!! But again, hope to change that for the better in another month or so.

;-)