Actor Jake Gyllenhaal has been commuting among us for years now, lulling NYers to sleep and walking the fine line between staying incognito and pulling off a homeless Adrian Grenier-esque look. Just this week, a Redditor said he spotted Gyllenhaal on the N train (see above) dressed "like a semi hip-hoppy teen."

You could chalk this up to Gyllenhaal being the rare down-to-earth celebrity who really appreciates and takes advantage of NYC's mass transit.

Or you could see the truth.

It's just like Andy Warhol said: in the future, everyone will sit next to Jake Gyllenhaal on the subway for 15 minutes (or at least until their stop).

You might not remember that you sat next to Jake Gyllenhaal, but you did.

You may not have even realized that you were sitting next to Jake Gyllenhaal, but you did.

You may in fact be sitting next to him

Remember
If
Gyllenhaal
Halts
Train
No
One
Wins

Still don't believe? Here's but a smattering of Tweets from eyewitnesses, the consciously conscious, who soaked in the ethers of Jake Gyllenhaal's presence. Note: this is only from 2014, and this only includes people who can spell his name (mostly) correctly.

[Editor's Note: Literally everybody believes you, now]

[Editor's Note: you do not sit next to Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake Gyllenhaal chooses to sit next to you.]

And this, the greatest Jake Gyllenhaal subway spotting in history, is the stuff of legend:

Finally, here are a couple working theories on the Jake Gyllenhaal phenomenon.

  • 1. There are a lot of people in NYC who look like Jake Gyllenhaal
  • 2. Jake Gyllenhaal is a ghost haunting the subway system
  • 3. Jake Gyllenhaal lives in the tunnels
  • 4. Jake Gyllenhaal is a mass hallucination that causes people to poop themselves
  • 5. Jake Gyllenhaal has been cursed to eat bagels off the floor of the subway for eternity