30 Days and 16 Years: A Pin Up History of Jake Gyllenhaal and Austin Nichols - Day 23

In August 2010, eight years after the second anniversary party at the Club Lotus in New York, the photo below appeared on IHJ. Seemingly, innocuous. No harm. No foul. Nothing to see here, except...wait a second.

 Let's crop and zero in on this pic a bit closer.

Looks like a familiar ear and haircut in the background. Much taller than the guy next to him. Could it be....Well, color me shocked. If it isn't, Mr. Austin Nichols.  Attending the same party as Jake just about six weeks after they met at the The Day After Tomorrow audition in May 2002.

Now, prior to this photo, only one pic existed from that June 26, 2002 social gathering. One with Jake and Macauley Culkin sitting in a booth together. Jake definitely looks like he's having a great time, but notice the professional space between him and Culkin. On the other hand, take a look at how intimately close Jake appears to be with the person to his left. Shoulder to shoulder. Familiar and cozy. Jake's body slumped, relaxed and angled toward Austin.

Did I say, Austin?  Well, yes I did. The shirt of the guy, who is arm and arm with Jake, is a checkered blue and yellow pattern on white. Now look at a close up of Austin's shirt. A blue and yellow checkered pattern on white.


 

Now we know why the lone Macauley Culkin photo was initially the only one published from that party back in 2002. Jake's team obviously didn't want anyone to see that Austin was there with him. Not until July 2010, when the photo embargo had been lifted, did the truth finally come out. Jake's manager no doubt hoping no one would recognize Austin by then. 

The fact that Austin was at this Club Lotus party is just one more piece of evidence that Jake fell hard for this guy. Why else would he need to be hidden from the public so early in their friendship? After all, they were going to be working on a film together in about five months.  What was there to hide? Except, of course, if what Jake and Austin had was not just serious, but so real that those around them were already circling the wagons.  Making plans. Defending the home team. The fact that Big Sis, Maggie was at this same party and knew all about Austin, yet in less than two months very publicly "set up" Jake with Kirstin Dunst is all too clear now. She was a beard from the beginning that everyone felt Jake now needed to keep his career on track. 

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pic source:  Oh My Godot, IHJ, giphy

playlist:  Celebration - Kool and the Gang

                Love Comes Quickly - Pet Shop Boys

                Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol 

            

30 Days and 16 Years: A Pin Up History of Jake Gyllenhaal and Austin Nichols - Day 22

Nearly seven months after the sturm und drang of April 11, Jake and Austin are seen courtside once again. The date is November 21, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Each man is desperately trying to prove that they are just two bros, hangin' out at a LA Lakers' game. Nope, nothing to see here. Just a couple of serious sports fans taking in a Tuesday, late in the afternoon, B-ball game to make sure no one thinks this could possibly be mistaken for a date night. No talking. No interaction. No gazes in each other's direction. You know, just two guys being, well being... stereotypically straight. Stoic and brooding.Watch that tongue action, Austin. Someone might misinterpret your, well whatever you're doing there.

Don't be deceived, however. As 2006 comes to a close, Jake and Austin are going through the rigor of setting up an iron clad surrogacy arrangement. Although they are working overtime to erase the rumors that followed Lakers 1.0 (February 11, 2006), they remain on the West Coast, curiously along with NY residents, Maggie, Peter, newborn Ramona. Now, why would Maggie and her own family, Ramona only 50 days old, be staying in Los Angeles and not Manhattan, where she and Peter live? 

 November 26, 2006, Los Angeles

Almost seems like something big might be happening that the extended Gyllenhaal family wanted to be around for. Like perhaps all the medical and psychosocial screenings involved in the assistive reproduction process.  After all, making sure that family and friends are supportive of a gay couple's decision to have a child is a critical component of the mandatory mental health assessment. Probably, even more so when that gay couple indicates that they are celebrities and that they want to stay in the closet. With BT1 being born in October 2007, the conception had to have taken place in January 2007. No wonder the Gyllenhaal clan were so inseparable between November - December 2006.

pic sources: IHJ

playlist:  Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go-Go's

               Waiting - Green Day

               River of Dreams - Billy Joel

30 Days and 16 Years: A Pin Up History of Jake Gyllenhaal and Austin Nichols - Day 7

Largely filmed in Montreal, Canada between November 2002-March 2003, The Day After Tomorrow was epic for both visual effects as well as for the cinematic love story that blossomed behind the scenes, on camera, and inside that cozy trailer the two lovebirds co-stars shared on set. Day after day, after day, after day.  

Whether celebrating Jake's birthday, just "fooling around" with one another while filming, or during those innumerable outtakes from the movie, neither man could hide how smitten and completely gone for one another both of  them were...from start to finish. 

Much too young to care to be coy or ashamed of who they loved, Jake was a mere 21 at the beginning of the TDAT shoot (turning 22 in December), and his "old man" Austin, had just turned 22 back in April, right before they met at TDAT auditions in May 2002. Hard to believe but now, nearly 38 years old, they have lived their entire adult lives together.

Awwww,  look. There's protective Austin making sure Jake doesn't burn himself with all those candles. And there's his special Jakey smile openly directed at the camera lens. You guys are just so embarrassing.

And even though management has tried to erase everything related to Jake and Austin's relationship on the Internet, we here at Narnia have special access to an treasure trove archive of TDAT material. 

An Interview with Austin Nichols, from YM Magazine, April 2004:

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."
  
An Interview with Jake Gyllenhaal, from YM Magazine, June 2004:

Jake : I especially love messing with Austin [Nichols, who plays a rich kid who also wants to date Laura]. He'll do a take and I'll say, "you're not reallly going to do that are you?"


Cooking? Messing around? Making-It-Up-As-You-Go-Along?  That sounds delicious, naughty, and delightfully spontaneous. Sort of just like how young love should be.

pic sources:  IHJ, TDAT screen caps, YouTube
our playlist:  Snow Patrol = Chasing Cars
                     John Mayer - Your Body is a Wonderland