Jake Gyllenhaal on Heath Ledger: 'I miss him as a human being'

In an interview with NPR, Jake Gyllenhaal reminisced on his career including his first role in City Slickers and his memorable roles in movies like Donnie Darko and Brokeback Mountain.

It's been nearly a decade since Brokeback was released and more than seven years since his co-star Heath Ledger's passing, but both still have a profound effect on Gyllenhaal today.
It was fascinating, particularly because I don't think we knew what a success the movie would be, what it would become, and it was an intimate and really scary thing for me and Heath, in particular, to dive into. It was uncomfortable for both of us in some of the scenes, and yet we both deeply believed in what the movie was saying. ... At the time it was pretty unreal. ... The emotional response you get from that movie from people who see that movie, I think it was one of the first movies where people would go, "Oh, I can see it as love."
And speaking of love, The Southpaw actor shared some for his late co-star:
I miss him as a human being, and I miss working with him and what an unfortunate thing it is that we won't be able to see the beauty of his expression.

It's unfortunate indeed. But, Gyllenhaal has been able to find a lesson in his friend's tragic passing.
I know, not only can this career end in a very short period of time and this or that can happen, but also that life is precious. I think losing Heath and being a part of a family that was something like the movie, that movie we all made together, makes you see that, makes you appreciate that and hopefully moves you away from the things that really don't matter to the things that do.