Jake Gyllenhaal ‘not afraid’ of tough roles

Jake Gyllenhaal has grown as an actor as he’s gotten older.

The ‘Prisoners’ actor has enjoyed critical acclaim in a slew of recent roles including his new movie co-starring Hugh Jackman, as well as ‘End of Watch’ and ‘Source Code’, and he feels he is better at choosing projects now he’s matured.

He explained to MTV News: ”I’ve had this privilege of being able to act since I was very young. I had this long career. I’m at the age where I think most of my contemporaries are beginning their career. I think of it in the same way. I think of it as a beginning too, understanding who you are as a man, understanding who you are as an artist or whatever you do in your life.

”At a certain time in your life you start to say, ‘Yeah, that moves me. I’m into that.’ You trust your instinct. I think all of those instincts become honed. There are a lot of things I’m not afraid of anymore. There are a lot of things that I continue to be [afraid of] and I’m trying to look at.”

The actor has previously earned critical acclaim for his roles in Oscar-winning movie ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and war drama ‘Jarhead’.