Thirstory: Into the Woods with Jake Gyllenhaal

Welcome to Thirstory, where we whet your appetite with pages from the Interview archive that were almost too hot to print. This week, Jake Gyllenhaal saves the summer with his October 2007 cover spread. 

This time last year, no one could’ve predicted that Summer 2020 would see passport stamps and beach getaways prevailed by inflatable backyard pools. And yet, here we are. These days, the great outdoors have become the great indoors, and for the lucky few that have access to a private yard, I imagine inflatable pools make for quite the respite in August’s rising temperatures. If you’re like me and do not, cold showers and the remembrance of vacations past have been some of the few things keeping me cool. 

One more thing that’s helped: this cover shoot of Jake Gyllenhaal from Interview’s October 2007 issue. In it, photographer Mark Seliger’s shots of the actor read like a brochure to the summer camp of my dreams. Just when you thought all you had left was Brokeback Mountain and despair, Gyllenhaal emerges from the woods as the hot camp counselor of your wildest fantasies to revive the spirit of summer. His activities include chopping wood, canoeing, riding bikes, and from what I can only presume, pitching tents.