GEVA/AKM-GSIUpon further reflection, punching an actual mirror may not have been the best idea. Jake Gyllenhaal accidentally injured himself while shooting the upcoming thriller Nightcrawler, E! News has confirmed.
"During the shooting of the scene his character (purposefully) banged his hand into the mirror," the 32-year-old actor's rep explains. "Unfortunately the mirror broke and Jake's hand was badly cut up. He got numerous stitches at the ER and was released. He already returned to set for work."
The injury occurred at the tail-end end of an 18-hour day, according to People. "The scene was emotionally charged and his character was talking into a mirror and he got so into it, he banged his hands against the mirror and it broke and cut him," a source close to Gyllenhaal told the news outlet. "It was all the scene and not because he was mad about anything else."
Directed by Dan Gilfroy, Nightcrawler also stars Bill Paxton and Rene Russo. To play a crime scene journalist, Gyllenhaal—who is also a producer on the film—lost a whopping 20 pounds.
"I can only approach things from a mental place," the famously fit movie star told E! News in late October. "Like, I'm playing a character who's hungry, figuratively and literally, who's driven in ways to do things and succeed at any cost. And I think that defines a generation in a lot of way so I wanted to get their mentally and then have it transform me physically, because I am not one to rely on science as much as I am on just sort of instinct. That's sort of the character."