Jake Gyllenhaal once opened up on filming sex scenes with Jennifer Aniston, revealing he used the ‘pillow technique’ as it felt so ‘awkward’ for him.
Thanks to her role as Rachel Green in the iconic sitcom Friends, Aniston, 55, has spent most of her career being admired by by millions and being crowned one of ‘the world’s most beautiful women’ by various magazines over the years.
The title has also earned her numerous A-list admirers over the years, with one of those being Jake Gyllenhaal.
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The actors were 22 and 33 respectively in the film (Jason Merritt/FilmMagic for Variety Magazine)
Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Gyllenhaal, 43, he would have to face these feelings head on when the pair starred across each other in 2002’s The Good Girl, with the actor admitting the process was ‘awkward’ for him.
The film follows the story of Justine Last (Aniston) who embarks on a passionate love affair with a younger colleague Holden (Gyllenhaal) after feeling under-appreciated in her loveless marriage – with the very nature of the film meaning there would be a lot of steamy scenes between the pair.
Opening up on the experience in an interview on the The Howard Stern Show (via Elle) back in 2021, the Donnie Darko star joked that it was ‘torture’ for him.
“It was torture, yes it was, but it was also not torture,” he joked. “I mean, come on. It was like a mix of both.”
Despite having a crush on the actress at the time, Gyllenhaal was quick to clarify how to the ‘mechanical’ nature of the intimate scenes were awkward.
“Weirdly, love scenes are awkward because there are maybe 30, 50 people watching. That doesn’t turn me on,” he continued.
“Most of the time, it’s oddly mechanical, right? And also, it’s a dance, like, you choreograph it for a camera. It’s one of those like a fight scene, you gotta choreograph those things and I always have tried.”
The actor admitted he had a crush on his co-star at the time (Jeff Vespa/WireImage)
The Brokeback Mountain star went on to add that Aniston had actually suggested placing a pillow between themselves as a ‘pre-emptive’ measure.
“I think that was actually a Jennifer suggestion, she was very kind to suggest it before we began,” he added.
This isn’t the first time Gyllenhaal has spoken about what it was like to work with Aniston, with the actor telling PEOPLE in 2016: “I will say, I had a crush on her for years. And working with her was not easy.
“I was – um, yeah. That’s all I’m going to say. It was lovely. It wasn’t hard, that’s what I would say.”
