Jake Gyllenhaal Opens up About Being Legally Blind

Gyllenhaal has 20/1250 vision and was born with a lazy eye that naturally resolved.

By Stephen Andrew

Jake Gyllenhaal has a surprising medical condition that he's gone many years without talking about. The Road House actor recently opened up about his eyesight, revealing that he is legally blind and has been the majority of his life.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gyllenhaal shared that he was born with a lazy eye that naturally resolved, and has 20/1250 vision and — most of the time — has to wear glasses with a very strong prescription, which he's had since he was 6.

"I like to think it's advantageous," Gyllenhaal told the outlet. "I've never known anything else. When I can't see in the morning, before I put on my glasses, it's a place where I can be with myself." 

He also revealed that he's occasionally used his blindness to help him when working as an actor. Offering one example, Gyllenhaal shared that while shooting a scene for the 2015 boxing movie Southpaw, he removed his contacts in order so that he'd have to listen more intently as police gave his character some tragic news.

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Gyllenhaal can next be seen in the new Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent. Based on The New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, the gripping series takes viewers on a journey through the horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney's office when one of its own is suspected of a crime. 

The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together. Presumed Innocent begins streaming on Wednesday, June 12.

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