Jake Gyllenhaal recently talked about the time he almost starred in Spider-Man 2. The actor is currently portraying Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio, in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which hits theaters next Tuesday. Gyllenhaal has been having a blast out promoting his first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with co-star and new BFF Tom Holland. But there was a time when Gyllenhaal could have taken on the role of Peter Parker back in 2004. Additionally, the actor's name has been rumored for several superhero roles over the years.

Tobey Maguire injured himself while making Seabiscuit and it looked like he was not going to be able to return for Spider-Man 2. One of the actors that kept popping up as a possible replacement was Jake Gyllenhaal and the actor recently discussed what happened with that. When asked about the situation, Gyllenhaal coyly says, "I heard the same thing..." The actor was pressed further about the situation. Jake Gyllenhaal explains.

"The truth of the matter is, in the end, he's (Maguire) Spider-Man. There are so many roles in my career where I was up against another actor, or something happened that possibly could've happened but didn't happen but maybe it would have... Eventually my belief is when an actor's played a character, particularly in a movie, the character's theirs, and that's that. But yeah he hurt himself and there was talk. And there was a slew of actors (possibly up for the part), and I was one of them."

Adding to the rumors over the years was the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal was dating Kirsten Dunst at the time, who was starring in Spider-Man 2 with Tobey Maguire. In the end, Maguire was able to make a full recovery and return to the massively successful sequel. Now, 15 years later, Gyllenhaal is in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is the first big-budget giant studio project the actor has worked on since 2010's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Speaking of Prince of Persia, the movie, which was a box office bomb, ended up teaching Jake Gyllenhaal a lesson. The 2010 movie has been criticized for whitewashing over the years and the negative reviews turned the actor off from major studio projects for nearly a decade. Gyllenhaal had this to say about working on Prince of Persia and what he learned from the experience.

"I think I learned a lot from that movie in that I spend a lot of time trying to be very thoughtful about the roles that I pick and why I'm picking them. And you're bound to slip up and be like, 'That wasn't right for me,' or 'That didn't fit perfectly.' There have been a number of roles like that. And then a number of roles that do."

In the end, Jake Gyllenhaal has taken time to choose the right projects for himself. And for the most part, he has been doing an excellent job. Duncan Jones' Source Code, David Ayer's End of Watch, and Denis Villeneuve Prisoners and Enemy have worked out really well for the actor. Maybe Spider-Man: Far From Home will bring him back into the major studio roles in the future. You can check out the interview with Gyllenhaal over at Yahoo.