The Freelance Creative

Jake Gyllenhaal Wants Your Job

Yep, that’s right. Superstar/uber-hunk Jake Gyllenhaal wants to give up his celebrity lifestyle to be a freelance writer—at least on the silver screen.

Starting October 17, you’ll be able to see Gyllenhaal playing Louis Bloom, a freelance crime journalist, in Nightcrawler. The thing is, he’s not doing very well for himself. If you thought that you were desperate for a job, try watching some of these pleas for work without immediately wanting to give Bloom a glowing endorsement on LinkedIn:

This YouTube clip isn’t a movie trailer as much as a series of rants posted by a neurotic, unemployed guy. But that’s because it surfaced within a inconspicuous San Fernando Valley, Calif., Craigslist ad—a clever piece of guerrilla marketing that started picking up steam yesterday.

The sad thing is, the Nightcrawler commercial and Craigslist posting are really relatable; a lot of freelancers are feeling just as desperate for employment as Bloom. (Although they might not be quite at the punching mirrors phase yet.)

As a freelancer, you’ve probably had days where you felt exactly like Gyllenhaal in his epic, unhinged monologue: “Now I’m not fooling myself, having been raised with the self-esteem movement so popular in schools, I used to expect my needs to be considered. But I know that today’s work culture no longer caters to the job loyalty that could be promised to earlier generations.”

Cue everyone who graduated into the Great Recession nodding along solemnly; the writers of Nightcrawler hit the nail on the head when it comes to capturing the reality of today’s job market. And who knows, maybe Nightcrawler and Gylenhaal will make the freelance writing life sexy… at least in a crazed kind of way.

Or maybe you could just crib his monologue during your next pitch for work: “I’m looking for a job. In fact, I’ve made up my mind to find a career that I can learn and grow into. Who am I? I’m a hard worker, I set high goals and I’ve been told I’m persistent.”

Who could say no to that?

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