Why Jake Gyllenhaal Wrote An Angry Letter To Kentucky Fried Chicken As A Kid

Fast food chains have their fans, and then they have their superfans. The one’s that wear their love for a chain restaurant, on their sleeve. And apparently, Jake Gyllenhaal was one of those superfans. Gyllenhaal loved his Kentucky Fried Chicken as a child. So much so, that when the chain took his favorite meal off their menu, Gyllenhaal took immediate action and wrote an angry letter to KFC.

While attending a press conference at Toronto Film Fest for his latest film Demolition, Gyllenhaal recalled a personal experience with a corporation. Similar to his character in the film, who continuously pens letters to a customer service representative played by Naomi Watts, Gyllenhaal had penned another type of complaint letter in his own life. He recalled the event (via The Hollywood Reporter):

When I was a little child, I was at school and we were supposed to learn how to write letters and complaint letters. And so I decided to write to Kentucky Fried Chicken and tell them that I was upset they had discontinued Chicken Littles, which were a particular type of mini hamburger with fried chicken in the middle of it. It was deeply upsetting to me at the time, and I felt like they should bring them back.

Clearly the actor was seriously upset that KFC would do such a thing. And he wasn’t about to let them get away with it, without complaint. During the press conference, one reporter was sure to let Gyllenhaal know that his beloved Chicken Littles, are in fact back on the menu, to which the actor smiled and claimed he must have indirectly had something to do with it.

While it’s hard to visualize Jake Gyllenhaal obsessing over his Kentucky Fried Chicken, if the story still resonates, he must really have loved those Chicken Littles. And laughing matter aside, the actor finds stories like his, as well as the story explored in his new film Demolition empowering. He continued:

It's empowering and I encourage most people, if they can, to really express themselves and bring back whatever they feel like has been taken away from them in their lives. In my case, really important things like fried chicken. Seriously.

Whether or not any of us non-movie star folk decide to take Gyllenhaal’s advice, at least now we know the guy likes fried chicken, and that’s a great quality in my book.