Jake Gyllenhaal: I've Been in Love Three Times

Jake Gyllenhaal promotes his latest movie. (Getty Images)
Jake Gyllenhaal promotes his latest movie. (Getty Images)

Jake Gyllenhaal hasn't lost that loving feeling.

The 34-year-old actor revealed Wednesday during an interview on Howard Stern's Sirius XM radio show that while his relationships with Reese Witherspoon, Kirsten Dunst, and other women didn't work out, he's still optimistic about finding a lasting relationship.

Gyllenhaal — who's been rumored to be dating co-stars Ruth Wilson and Rachel McAdams in recent months — said that he's not in love at the moment, although he wishes he were. "Yeah, I love love, man," he said.

The actor, next on screen in the boxing drama Southpaw, confessed that he's been in love three (maybe two) times. While he didn't disclose which relationships they were, he had long-term romances with Dunst and Witherspoon. He and Dunst met in September 2002 and announced their split in July 2004. Then while filming the 2007 movie Rendition, he hooked up with co-star Witherspoon, but they broke up in 2009.

Related: Watch the Trailer for Jake Gyllenhaal's New Movie 'Southpaw'

Gyllenhaal and Witherspoon sit courtside. (Getty Images)
Gyllenhaal and Witherspoon sit courtside. (Getty Images)

Fans of Taylor Swift know that he also had a brief relationship with her back in 2010 thought to have inspired several songs on her Red album. And last year, Gyllenhaal and model Alyssa Miller split after about a year as a couple.

So what stopped him from committing when he was in love? "I think it was me," he said. "I think I probably just got scared."

Dunst and Gyllenhaal walk the red carpet. (Getty Images)
Dunst and Gyllenhaal walk the red carpet. (Getty Images)

Stern joked that it must be tough for Gyllenhaal to settle down when there are so many temptations around him on the Hollywood party scene.

"I think it's hard for everybody, but I also think at some point, you just decide to grow up," he said. "There are a lot of beautiful women, there are opportunities. But I think at the same time, you find the right person... I believe in monogamy. I believe in when you meet somebody who's right, it'll be right, and you'll stay there."

Related: Jake Gyllenhaal Opens Up About His Desire to Be a Father: 'It Is Definitely a Dream of Mine'

However, the Brokeback Mountain actor has no illusions that it works out for everyone. When Stern asked about Gyllenhaal's reaction to his parents's 2008 divorce after 30 years of marriage, he gave a surprising answer.

"I don't know, I have to say I hoped they would [divorce] for many years," Gyllenhaal said. "I think everything is a lot better now."

It's the relationship that Gyllenhaal's sister, actress Maggie, has with her husband of six years, actor Peter Sarsgaard, that he aspires to have for himself one day. They also have children — daughters Ramona, 8, and 3-year-old Gloria — which Gyllenhaal has said he wants, too.

"I admire that relationship. They're definitely a standard for me," he noted of his sitter and brother-in-law. "Based on that, and based on their kids and how great they are with their kids, and how cool it is. You know, to me, I think, like, [it's about] making a relationship that's cool ... where you're like, I'm psyched to be a dad. This is cool. My sister and her husband make it feel that way."

Line forms to the left, people.