Jake Gyllenhaal says that being legally blind has been ‘advantageous’ to his acting career

Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal, who has been wearing intensive corrective lenses since he was six years old, recently said in an interview that being classified as legally blind has been “advantageous” to his career. The 43-year-old star has 20/200 vision and has been wearing intensive corrective lenses since childhood after being born with a lazy eye, which naturally resolved.

He told media sources about being classified as legally sightless, saying, “I like to think it’s advantageous. I’ve never known anything else. When I can’t see in the morning, before I put on my glasses, it’s a place where I can be with myself.”

For the unversed, “legally blind” means that the visual acuity is less than 20/200, however, even with prescription eyewear, the individual must not be able to achieve 20/200 vision in order to truly meet the criterion.

Jake also shared how he removed his contacts for a scene in his 2015 boxing drama Southpaw in which police told his character Billy ‘The Great’ Hope that his wife is dead as he said the move forced him to appear as if he was listening “more closely” to the cops.

The actor also shared that he has been actively seeking projects that “freak me out a bit.” “The feeling I want to have is, ‘Can I do it?’ That it’s going to ask of me things that I don’t know about myself yet.”