Gyllenhaal set for West End debut

Jake Gyllenhaal, who starred with Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl, is the latest American actor to be lured by the West End stage.

He will play Romeo next year in a production of Romeo and Juliet, when he finishes filming Proof, based on the David Auburn play.

“I am chomping at the bit,” he tells the New York Times.

“There are periods of time in your life where you can truly and honestly pull certain characters off. Romeo happens to fit right now.

“I have never performed Shakespeare, but I have an innate feeling that this role and I will get along just fine.

"I’ve outgrown quirky – on to the Romantics.”