Jake Gyllenhaal opens up about filming love scenes with Jennifer Aniston

Jake Gyllenhaal has acted across some of the most beautiful women in the industry but there is one actress that made him blush more than the rest- Jennifer Aniston. During an interview on The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday Stern brought up their 2002 film The Good Girl and the actor recalled how he felt filming the love scenes. Gyllenhaal had a crush on Aniston for years before he ended up in a romantic movie with her and he joked that it was “torture” to film the steamy scenes with her.

© GettyImages

When asked if it was “torture” to film the love scenes Gyllenhaal quipped, “Oh yeah, it was torture, yes it was.” “But it was also not torture. I mean, come on, it was like a mix of both,” he added with a smile. After Howard made a cringe joke about “protrusions” Gylenhall said that love scenes are awkward to film for him as an actor. “‘Weirdly, love scenes are awkward, because there are maybe 30, 50 people watching it? Maybe if you have a close-set there’s less. That doesn’t turn me on,“ the 40-year-old said. “It‘s oddly mechanical.” The handsome thespian explained the whole this is like a dance. “And also it’s a dance, you‘re choreographing for a camera. You can get in it but it’s like a fight scene, you have to choreograph those scenes. And I always have tried,” the Bubble Boy star said.

The actor also shared the trick they used to film to make sure everyone felt comfortable during the scenes. A pillow between his and Aniston’s special parts. “‘That was just preemptive and used generally always when actually in a horizontal place in that movie. Everything else was whatever it was. Cause I remember those 2 characters did a lot of making out,” The Guilty star added. As for whose idea it was? He revealed it was Aniston‘s, “I think that was actually a Jennifer suggestion, she was very kind to suggest it before we began.” The confident actress didn’t ask for permission either, “She was like, ’I‘m putting a pillow here,’” he said.

It’s not the first time Gyllenhaal has reflected on his time on set with Anison. “She’s a rough one. Not likable. So hard to compliment,” Gyllenhaal joked to PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly in 2016. “I will say, I had a crush on her for years. And working with her was not easy,” the actor joked.