Jake Gyllenhaal Admits Love Scenes With Jennifer Aniston Were ‘Torture’

Jake Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Aniston once starred together in an indie film that called for love scenes between the two, and one of the stars has called it “torture.” During an interview with Howard Stern, Gyllenhaal recalled shooting the 2002 romantic-dramedy The Good Girl with the former . In the film, Aniston and Gyllenhaal’s characters enter into an affair that has deeply lasting ramifications. Speaking to Stern, Gyllenhaal shared that he had a “crush” on Aniston in those days, which contributed to acting in sex scenes with her feeling like “torture.” He explained, “But it was also not torture. I mean, come on, it was like a mix of both.” 

Gyllenhaal added, “Weirdly, love scenes are awkward, because there are maybe 30, 50 people watching it? That doesn’t turn me on.” He went on to describe the process of shooting sex scenes as “oddly mechanical.” Elaborating, Gyllenhaal said, “It’s a dance, you’re choreographing for a camera. You can get in it, but it’s like a fight scene, you have to choreograph those scenes.” The Zodiac actor also shared that they used something called “the pillow technique” to help them be more comfortable. “That was just pre-emptive and used generally always when actually in a horizontal place in that movie,” Gyllenhaal said. “I think that was actually a Jennifer suggestion. She was very kind to suggest it before we began. She was like, ‘I’m putting a pillow here.’”

Following his big revelation, Gyllenhaal also opened up about an awkward exchange he had with Brad Pitt during the time the actor was married to Aniston. It was around the time that Gyllenhaal and Aniston filmed Good Girl, the star told W Magazine for the Best Performances issue. “I remember putting my hand out to shake his and accidentally hitting the door,” the Spider-Man: Far From Home actor remembered. “He said, so confidently and kindly, ‘Well, you have another one. It’s all right.’” Gyllenhaal added, “He was very, very, very sweet to me, and it was actually a really lovely exchange. But, yeah – I was starstruck.”

In big career news for Gyllenhaal, it’s been reported that he’s being considered for the lead role in MGM’s Road House reboot. According to Deadline, sources have said that MGM is very eager to get a new version of the film into production and have begun looking for scribes to do a re-write on a previous script. Gyllenhaal and director Doug Liman are both attached to the project and, while the two have other films they are starting work on soon, the studio is said to be placing a high priority on the new reboot film.