Jake Gyllenhaal says we’ve all been saying his name wrong

Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the biggest stars on the planet.

With that in mind, you'd assume that people would most probably be able to say his name correctly.

Well, it would appear that's not the case.

If the actor has ever come up in conversation with you and your mates, the pronunciation generally falls into one of two camps: there will either be people who say it like 'Gill-and-hall or those who say 'Ji-len-hall'.

It's the kind of thing that can really divide a group, because if you find out that your best mate says it the opposite way to you, it can make you question everything you thought you knew about your friendship.

But it would appear that both are incorrect.

Yep, according to the man himself, virtually nobody ever says his name right.

In an interview with Conan O'Brien a few years back, the Brokeback Mountain star explained that he is half Swedish, and so the only people who actually know how to say his name are the Swedish, unsurprisingly, and people who work at Ikea.

Conan

And after the host accidentally gets it almost spot on, Jake demonstrated the perfect way to say his name.

Are you ready for this?

Giving it full gusto, Jake says: "Yee-len-hay-ler."

Didn't see that coming, did you? Like, even if you gave me 100 goes, I don't think that would have come out of my mouth.

Well, now that's settled, how about paying your respects to the man by settling in and watching one of his hit movies?

If that sounds like a bit of you, you could do far worse than giving his Netlfix hit The Guilty a go.

Released last year, the tense thriller follows a troubled LAPD officer Joe Baylor who has been demoted to call handler amid an ongoing investigation into his conduct.

While working, Baylor receives an emergency call from a distressed woman who reveals she's been abducted, leaving her children in danger.

Netflix

Baylor is then entered into a race against time to save the woman. But as more details about the abduction are exposed, it becomes clear he's dealing with something a lot bigger than he originally thought.

Alongside Gyllenhaal, the movie also stars Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano - who viewers don't actually get to see.

It was directed by Antoine Fuqua, who previously worked with Gyllenhaal on Southpaw.

The movie got a fairly decent 74 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, so definitely worth a watch if you're Christmas-movied out.

Topics: TV and Film, US News, Netflix

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is LADbible's Editorial Lead. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

@SmithersDom