Jake Gyllenhaal to 'Man vs. Wild' Star Bear Grylls: 'Don't Hold Back'

Wonderwall, Monday, September 19, 2011, 3:34pm (PDT)

By Jon Warech

• Back in July, fans of the hit Discovery channel show "Man vs. Wild" watched Jake Gyllenhaal fight through hurricane-force winds and treacherous winter terrain in Iceland, but according to the show's star Bear Grylls, Gyllenhall got exactly what he wanted.

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  "He said, 'Don't hold back with me' and he got it," Grylls told Wonderwall. "We had some of the toughest conditions I've ever known on 'Man vs. Wild.' We took him to Iceland in winter. There were literally 100-mph-plus winds up there. Both of us were blowing like tumbleweed, but he really rose to it. It was great to see his confidence grow as he went on. I take my hat off to him. He worked really hard. He's one of the fittest guys in Hollywood."

  Grylls says he tells all guests to train some -- but to not go too crazy before appearing on the show. The key is to stay injury-free and at full health before entering the wild. With the combination, he says, good things will happen. Both Gyllenhaal and Will Ferrell, who appeared on the show in 2009, followed Grylls' instructions and had successful experiences.

  "The wild rewards commitment, and both of them really threw themselves into it," he said. "Will was far out of his comfort zone, but he really threw himself into it, and I admire the way he did that. I said to them beforehand, 'Just come on your own with no entourage, and trust me,' and they did that. They both say it was a landmark time in their lives, and I think they felt really proud of what they achieved."

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  With Season 6 wrapped, Grylls has time to unwind and play guitar and piano with his three sons. He can also focus on his new passion: attacking cybercrime for IT security company Vigilante Bespoke.

  "I was a victim of cybercrime, so I teamed up with Norton, and we're raising awareness of how big cybercrime is," he said. "Norton cybercrime reports that about a million people are victims every year. I had my website hacked. Luckily it wasn't malicious. It's a guy that just put a picture of himself up on the homepage that said, 'I'm a big fan but your security sucks.' It's like the wild; you don't want to go into it unprepared. You just have to be savvy and get some decent antivirus and be smart with your passwords."

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  As for his day job, Grylls is tight-lipped about future adventures.

  "We are starting with a new show for Discovery that's a bit under wraps at the moment," he said, noting that filming begins next month. "It's going to be a huge one that I'm really excited about but I'm not allowed to talk about that yet. We've got a few ideas, so we're going to see. It would be fun to take a lady so that's in the plan."