Jake Gyllenhaal Knocks Out The Competition In These Adorable Childhood Photos!

Is anyone else extremely excited to see Jake Gyllenhaal on the big screen this Friday in Southpaw? Well, years before Jake would become an A-list actor, he was just a regular high school kid who sometimes wore baby bonnets…

We’re not kidding. Jake once posed in a baby’s bonnet for a high school snap. The pic was taken while Jake took part in a theatre production at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles.

Jake was born in Cali, and it really is no surprise he became a great actor. He’s the son of a film producer and a film director! Talk about good genes.

By 1991, the handsome young man landed his first role in the 1991 comedy film City Slickers.

But his career didn’t blow up straight away. In fact, his parents were quite against him being away from home for long periods of time, so even if he landed a role, they would often forbid him from taking it.

After Jake graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 1998, he headed to Columbia University, which is also where his sister Maggie went to college.

While his parents probably wanted him to focus on his education, Jake dropped out after two years to focus on acting.

A few years later, he became a part of a cult favorite with Donnie Darko, and the rest is pretty much history as they say.

Now he will be on the screen in Southpaw, where he plays a Billy Hope, a fierce boxer whose world is falling apart around him. Since the beginning of his career, Jake has taken on such a variety of characters and we never know who he is going to be next!