The Case of the "Blonde Woman": Gettin' Curiouser and Curiouser - Day 15

Thirty Days of Toothy Tile, Grey Goose and the Baby Tiles

Day 15

When we last left the curious whereabouts of Jake Gyllenhaal's blond personal assistant, we were more than a bit intrigued by a lone picture of a similarly looking woman pushing a baby in a stroller with Jake, Reese and her two children walking nearby. A strip of screen caps furthered captured this Parisian outing, which sent up red flags that this young woman seemed to have traveled overseas with Jake during the filming of Disney's, "Prince of Persia" in 2008.  For a look back: In case you missed Day 8


But let's not get too sidetracked with an earlier flash from the past because this is now Day 15 and we're late, we're late for a very important "well, what do we have here" date! 

For context, the origin of our next picture is not known.  The photo is sort of like the biggest mystery since the Loch Ness Monster.  The picture came from a stranger who recognized Jake, which seems obvious given the focus and candid content of the snapshot.  If and when more is unearthed about the source of this picture, the discovery will be bull-horned across the land.  But, for now, let's just be satisfied that the photograph and backstory exists at all.

What we do know is that this picture was taken in Montreal during the same time period that Jake had been known to be filming "Source Code" in March and April, 2010. Here he is visibly not working, but hanging outside a movie theater where "Alice in Wonderland" (which had been released on March 5, 2010 in Canada) was being showcased. Given all that, on this specific day, it was not so much the featured Disney film that brought Jake to that box office kiosk to buy a ticket, but rather one of the anticipated Movie Previews that was scheduled to be shown: "Prince of Persia." 

But hey there. Hold on just a gosh darned minute.  Who is that blond woman standing next to Jake with that big smile on her face???? She looks familiar, doesn't she? 

Well, well, well, well.

 

Now look a little closer.  What or, rather, who is that directly in  front of Jake?  Looks like a little brunette head and a little hand.  There was much discussion on Oh My Godot over this picture with one anon claiming the child looked too big to be a Baby Tile. Except by this time Jake and Austin were already expanding that family of theirs. Regardless of the age, that is obviously a child that is next to Jake and that is the same woman who was pushing the baby stroller in 2008 in Paris.

In fact, a talented WFT2'er did this nice side-by-side-by-side comparison to jar everyone's memory.  

Filming in Canada would have provided Jake a more discreet opportunity to likely have his children with him, particularly if he had an "assistant" as well.  2010 was one of the earlier years of Twitter and no doubt, Jake never anticipated someone would be up in the rafters, so to speak, taking pictures.

In a quoted moment from Alice in Wonderland.....

collaborated:  PG and Methodical Muser

pic sources:  pinterest and unknown on the twitpic or Facebook

our playlist:  Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies - the Drifters

                     White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane          

The Nanny - Day 8

Thirty Days of Toothy Tile, Grey Goose and the Baby Tiles

Day 8

In 2007-2008, Jake was papped a few times in the process of being chauffered by this particular blond woman...

According to Just Jared, in the above picture:

The Zodiac star was escorted outside by an elderly woman and then hopped into a car being driven by an unidentified woman. - Just Jared, June 18, 2007.   http://www.justjared.com/2007/06/18/jake-gyllenhaal-fresh-skincare-store/


And then here...

Prior to leaving for overseas and work on the movie Prince of Persia, Jake was seen frequently jogging with a personal trainer in southern California.  The filming schedule of the Disney movie would take him to Morocco, but also include "down time" with Reese Witherspoon and her children in Paris, France, Spain and London, of which the "R & R" was well documented by a plethura of pictures.


Now a funny thing happened on the way to watching Jake's comings and goings.    In 2010, a poster on the Waiting for Toothy 2 blog, long after the photos had been taken, suddenly discovered that there was a woman in these July 11, 2008 pictures of Jake, Reese, and her children Ava and Deacon, who looked awfully similar to the blond, "chauffer" woman in the 2007 and 2008 photos.  

There was once video of this walkabout (by the pap agency x17) and in the film, you can see Jake and Reese walking side by side behind this blond woman who was carrying a small baby and stroller.  The stroller is bedecked in everything looking brand-spanking new and blue.  This video is no longer available anywhere online.  But this wonderful Waiting for Toothy2 blog regular had preserved picture comparisons and a string of screen caps from the video during a hot topic of conversation on the unforgettable evening in late January 2010.  The highly animated and excited online discussion was highlighted by whether or not Ava Phillips, daughter of Reese and Ryan Philippe, did in fact appear to run towards the woman carrying the baby and begin to reach up and touch the baby's arm.

I have no doubt she did - will never forget seeing the video.  Here are the screen caps and a link to the website tinypics.com because it might be beneficial and easier to zoom, in order to see them in the link.  I just found these screen cap pictures while writing this, God bless this fan.  We thought the video was forever lost, but at least we have these stills.  Unfortunately, this is on X-Large, so I can't make them any bigger (being technically challenged and all)

Ava is in the red top and that is one of Jake's people/handlers in the white slacks and dark top and hair.  They were all spread out but as you can see if you're able to blow up the pictures, Ava does reach up with her arm towards the baby.  Now, one scoffing poster said that Ava was probably reaching up to touch her own hair.

Comparison side by side:

As someone who saw the video, I saw what looked to me like young Ava running towards the woman and baby, reaching up with her hand, but then pulling it back right away.  The video is forever "lost", but we now have these screencaps and humongous thanks to that old timer poster.

Interestingly enough, one year later in 2009, this blurb appeared on People.com, dated February 4:

He wasn’t there for the coffee, but Jake Gyllenhaal was deep in conversation with a mystery blonde at his favorite hangout, Caffe Luxxe on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. Dressed down in a gray T-shirt and jeans, the actor appeared to be interviewing his companion, onlookers say. The two chatted for 30 minutes and left separately without ordering anything.  source

Sure enough, looks like People.com wasn't blowing wind. IHJ has a few pics of Jake "leaving Caffe Luxxe" in Santa Monica, dated February 2:

 

 What a cutie! Check him out.

So Jake interviewing another "personal assistant", who happens to be blond.  It would be practical to imagine that Jake would want a blond female because in a car or from a quick angle, she could easily be mistaken for Reese.

This will not be the last time 30 Days posts on the "blond woman"; we will see her once again later in time.  :-)

 

 

Happy Saturday, everyone! Note: For the weekend, we're back on schedule, which is why Day 8 wasn't posted last night. 


pic source:  Just Jared, IHJ, giphy
our playlist: Oh My My - Act As If
                    I Drove All Night - Celine Dion