Jake Gyllenhaal Dumped His Model GF So He Could Workout For A Role

Jake Gyllenhaal is quietly having his own McConaughey-esque career renaissance. The 34-year-old actor has been putting in solid work in critically acclaimed, if under seen, films of late.

He was excellent as Detective Loki in 2013's "Prisoners."

He played two identical-looking characters in "Enemy." And, most recently, he was robbed of an Oscar nomination for his performance as Lou Bloom in "Nightcrawler."

As it seems to be the case these days, the true mark of any great actor or actress is the ability to transform his or her body for a role. McConaughey did it for "Dallas Buyers Club."

Christian Bale did it for pretty much every movie he's been in over the past decade.

Now, Gyllenhaal has done it for his new film, "Southpaw."

In "Southpaw," Gyllenhaal plays a down on his luck boxer named Billy Hope who must fight to get his family back. Needless to say, Gyllenhaal had to get in fighting shape to play the part.

And he had to take on this drastic transformation after losing a ton of weight to play skinny sleazebag Lou Bloom.

Gyllenhaal supposedly hit the gym so hard to get fit for the boxing flick, it caused a rift in his relationship with his former girlfriend, Alyssa Miller, and he had to break up with the 25-year-old model.

The director of the film, Antoine Fuqua, said,

I think he broke up with his girlfriend because he was just in the gym every day. He was training like a fighter. I had him sparring, really getting hit. No one but fighters understand the sacrifice it takes to be a fighter.

Gyllenhaal hasn't commented on this directly, but he said "that movie was full-on commitment." It must have been if he was able to get so jacked and if he was forced to give up his girlfriend for the film.

Some people are just wholly dedicated to their art. I think it's safe to say Jake Gyllenhaal falls into that camp.

Gyllenhaal lost 30 pounds for "Nightcrawler."

According to the director of the film, "Jake would ride his bike 15 miles to the set or run 10 miles to the set and then he would have a kale salad. I think he was on one-third of the caloric intake."

Then, Jake had to turn around and get absolutely ripped for "Southpaw."

He gained 15 pounds of pure muscle to play Billy Hope.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of his divergent physiques.

Gyllenhaal trained as if he were an actual boxer for six months. Here's what he had to say about the grueling process.

Antoine Fuqua said, "I had him training twice a day in the boxing ring, he did two-a-days seven days a week. I pretty much had him with me and my trainer every day. I took him to almost every fight... We literally turned him into a beast."

This is the girlfriend he had to give up to get in shape for this part.

All that hard work and sacrifice can be seen in the new trailer for "Southpaw." The film will be released July 31.

Citations: Jake Gyllenhaal reveals price of beefing up for Southpaw (Daily Mail)