New York, October 4 –Jake Gyllenhaal was thrilled to be a part of the all-star lineup at last night’s ACLU Freedom Concert. “I’m the youngest among all of them. It’s like Paul Simon and Patti Smith and Lou Reed and Mos Def and Jessica Lange and Robin Williams, and s**t man, just to be amongst them is pretty cool. To be sandwiched in today at rehearsals between Robin Williams and Mos Def and Nanci Griffith, you know, that’s pretty exciting.”

As a privileged white man, Gyllenhaal said he almost never faces limitations on his own freedom of speech, except in rare cases. “Especially in a situation like this, you say one thing, and then you get, sometimes, little pieces of it are used for a whole other thing.” (Who would do that?) But Jake wasn’t there for himself, he said, but to speak for those less empowered. “And then also ‘cause my mom would kick my ass if I didn’t show up tonight. She’s been an ACLU member for like 25 years.”

Jake thinks the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment are sexy, and that’s why he’s involved in organizations like Rock the Vote and the ACLU. “Like I think buying porno & smoking cigarettes, as exciting as it may be to kids, I think voting should be just as exciting, if not more exciting.”