Jake Gyllenhaal uses legally blind status as an advantage while acting: ‘Never known anything else’

Jake Gyllenhaal made his acting debut alongside Billy Crystal in the 1991 comedy "City Slickers," and has since earned accolades for his on-screen abilities.

Gyllenhaal, 43, doesn't let his legally blind status stop him from taking opportunities when it comes to his impressive acting career.

The "Road House" star was born with a lazy eye that naturally corrected itself, and has been wearing corrective lenses since he was six years old.  

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"I like to think it's advantageous," he told The Hollywood Reporter of being legally blind. "I've never known anything else."

He added, "When I can't see in the morning, before I put on my glasses, it's a place where I can be with myself." 

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Gyllenhaal has a 20/1250 prescription as determined through the Snellen Eye Chart, a test most commonly used by optometrists in the United States. 

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and the United States government determined a visual acuity of 20/400 is very low functional vision.

His blindness proved to be a helpful tool for a character, though. In the 2015 boxing movie "Southpaw," police told his character that his wife died, and Gyllenhaal removed his contacts so that he could listen closely for his next movement.

In 2017, he told The Telegraph that wearing his thick, Coke-bottle-like glasses in school made him stand out more than other students.

"I was an easy target," he said. "And I was always a sensitive kid." 

As far as his dating life goes, Gyllenhaal was hesitant to discuss his six-year relationship with French model Jeanne Cadieu, and refused to answer any questions about marriage.

"I think we all get into that space of work, work, work, and for a long time my career took precedence, but I'm at a point in my life where I realize that family really is the only thing that matters to me," he said.