Jake Gyllenhaal Expertly Avoids Question About Taylor Swift

Jake Gyllenhaal has zero interest in discussing his personal life with reporters – but Tim Jonze of The Guardian found this out the hard way.

Jonze got himself caught in a crossfire when he relentlessly questioned Gyllenhaal about his three-month long relationship with Taylor Swift back in 2010 (via Us Weekly).

The heated tiff began when Jonze asked whether Gyllenhaal, who was promoting his new movie Life, considers himself to be a private person. The actor replied, "I'm not necessarily guarded, but I consider intimacy to be very important and I don't think everybody needs to know about my family or my personal details. I'm old school in that way."

Jonze pushed back a bit with, "For someone so intensely private, wasn't it playing with fire a little to start dating [Swift]?" as she is known to write songs about her relationships. To his credit, the Oscar nominee attempted an answer – "I think when you're in a relationship, you are constantly scrutinized, your friends are scrutinized, but..." – before trailing off with a shrug.

The reporter then asked Gyllenhaal if he ever listened to Swift's songs about him, including her 2012 hit "We Are Never Getting Back Together". The two sat in awkward silence before the Nightcrawler actor finally insisted, "I would love to not talk about my personal life."

Instead of immediately aborting the situation, Jonze pressed the question, arguing that this information is actually public domain. Gyllenhaal obviously disagreed, and with an alleged cold smile, he repeated, "I would love to talk about the movie." Later, the actor hit back with a sarcastic dig: "You seem like a very smart person who has done their research, particularly into tabloid research, which is obviously the most important of all research."

Case in point, journalists: never, ever ask Jake Gyllenhaal about his personal life.