Jake Gyllenhaal has revealed that he loves tackling challenging roles and making movies that have 'currency'.
Gyllenhaal has picked up a Best Actor nod at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes for his performance in Nightcrawler, which had the critics raving when it was released at the end of last year.
Nightcrawler was another challenging role for the actor and follows on from the likes of Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain, and Enemy during his career.
Speaking to The Independent newspaper, the actor said: "I love movies that have currency. Movies are political, whether they're escapist or tackle something head on. There's a responsibility in telling a story. There's a responsibility to know your own mind.
"One of the things that changes in your career is that, at the beginning, people are telling you what you fit into, and later, if you do some things that people like, you make the decisions yourself. You have to know yourself well enough to make those decisions."
Gyllenhaal will find himself doing battle with Steve Carell, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, and Eddie Redmayne at the Golden Globes, while Gyllenhaal, Carell, Cumberbatch, and Redmayne are joined by Michael Keaton for the SAGs.
The Oscar nominations are just around the corner and Gyllenhaal could find himself in the mix for the biggest prize in film - Best Actor really does look like it is going to be a very exciting race this year.
As for Gyllenhaal, he has also completed work on Politics of Love, Southpaw, Everest, and Demolition. Southpaw sees the actor take on the role of a boxer as he teams up with director Antoine Fuqua for the first time. Everest is one of the most anticipated films of the year, as Gyllenhaal leads an all-star cast that also includes Josh Brolin, Sam Worthington, Jason Clarke, Keira Knightley, and Robin Wright.
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