The 'Ambulance' star reflected on his past 'SNL' appearance and his acting philosophy.
Jake Gyllenhaal took to the Saturday Night Live stage over the weekend, and busted out some candid earnestness and musical talent for the hosting occasion.
"I'm so excited to be back at SNL! The last time I hosted was the year 2007. You know how long ago that was? That was like 400 Marvel movies ago," Gyllenhaal quipped.
"To give you an idea of what it was like in 2007, in the show I hosted, there was a George W. Bush sketch, there were jokes about the first iPhone. And this is a photo of me from my monologue," he added, as an image flashed on screen of Gyllenhaal in a wig and dress belting out a song. "Yeah. There I am in full drag singing a song from Dream Girls to promote a movie where I played a gay cowboy. And that was actually the least problematic thing in that episode."
The Oscar-nominated star reflected on how, over the past 15 years, he developed a reputation for being "this serious, intense method actor."
"But honestly, I wasn't even that good at method acting," he added. "I remember for this movie Nightcrawler, I went to the director and I was like, 'Get ready for me to lose 48 pounds and win the Oscar.' And then a week later I was like, 'How would you like to see an actor lose 36 pounds and win the Golden Globe?' And then I showed up on set and I was like, 'You're looking at a guy who gained 10 pounds and doesn't care about awards!'"
In his efforts to be a "serious" actor, Gyllenhaal said he sort of "forgot how to have fun."
"That's when I realized something I should have realized a long time ago -- acting is a really stupid job. It's pretend! And it's fun and it should be filled with joy," he shared. "Well, I'm finally embracing that joy again, and that's why I'm back standing on this stage!"
Pulling out a microphone, Gyllenhaal then broke out into a rendition of "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Celine Dion, as he was joined on stage by Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim and Cecily Strong, decked out in fringe-covered red dresses. The serious actor got to show off his high notes for an unexpectedly fun music moment.
Saturday Night Live airs live, coast-to-coast at 8:30 p.m. PT, 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
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