Jake Gyllenhaal Terrified by Ostriches on ‘Prince of Persia’ Set

As we also noted on several past occasions, when it was first announced that Jake Gyllenhaal had accepted the part for a “Prince of Persia” film, fans of the original game were skeptic. In the meantime, the actor has gone to prove almost everyone wrong, even buffing up accordingly for the part thanks to a seemingly impossible workout. One thing he never managed to do though was conquer his fear of ostriches, People magazine has learned.

Admittedly, Jake is dead scared of the birds: someone told him to be careful around them and, since then, he’s lived in fear. Speaking on the red carpet at the premiere of the film, the actor made the shocking revelation, while assuring everyone around that he wasn’t even joking. Co-star Gemma Arterton, whom fans might also remember from this year’s “Clash of the Titans” and the older “Quantum of Solace,” confirmed Jake’s words, saying there was no acting in his fear of the birds.

“Jake Gyllenhaal worked hard to embody the fearless hero Prince Dastan in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – getting bulked up and mastering sword fighting and the acrobatic art of parkour. One thing he couldn’t conquer? His fear of ostriches. ‘They would say, “Don’t make any noise around the ostriches. They’ll tear out your eyes and rip out your heart.” So, I was naturally terrified,’ Gyllenhaal, 29, said with a laugh at Sunday’s London premiere of the movie, which opens May 28 in the U.S. ‘They look like they’re innocent, but they’re really not’,” People magazine writes, citing Jake himself.

What’s more, he wasn’t even fooling around, Gemma insists. “He was really scared. He ran away, and the look on his face – it’s not acting. It’s real,” she says for the same magazine. She, on the other hand, had a much better experience with the animals on set, recalling for People one particular stunt she did all by herself and which involved a horse. “I did a horse-riding stunt, which took me two weeks to rehearse. I had to jump onto a horse while it was galloping towards me. It was pretty scary, and I’m proud of myself for doing it, and I made sure that I looked over my shoulder so that everyone knew it was me and not a stunt double,” the actress adds.

As also noted above, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” opens in US theaters on May 28. Fans in Belgium, Finland, Netherlands and Sweden are in luck, for they will see it earlier than that, on May 19.