Gyllenhaal's got the music in him

Things got pretty raucous at Saturday night's Palm Springs Film Festival gala awards when Peter Sarsgaard presented pal Jake Gyllenhaal with the Desert Palm Achievement-Actor award.

"First, I want to say some nice things about Jake," Sarsgaard said. "He's got great hair. An amazing head of hair. And the thing about "Jarhead" is that he shaved it all off! Also, Jake is a fantastic singer and I think it's only a matter of time before you get to hear him sing. And I will dance," said Sarsgaard, doing some suave hustle steps. "So you gotta sing, Jake, if I dance. Let's get this party started!"

With that intro, Gyllenhaal, laughing so hard he could barely speak, came out on stage, stepped up to the mike and sang, in a falsetto voice, "Fever Night, Fever Night, Fe-vah! You know how to do it!"

"Wow! Okay, let's get raucous!," said Gyllenhaal, when he finished. "Listen, I've already played a gay cowboy. If I do a musical number, people will really start to question me. So I'll stay away from music for a while but don't think that it's not beating deep, deep in my veins. Very deep."

He explained that his love of storytelling is what keeps him acting. "If the story moves me, I will do anything to be in it. I'll play any part, even craft services. But I prefer theatrical work. But I would do that. No, no actually, I wouldn't."

Winding up his acceptance speech, Gyllenhaal spoke of how "films take me to places I never thought I would get to, and over walls that I never thought I could get over. When I think about that it's just — I dunno — I forgot."

As the audience roared, Gyllenhaal continued, "Let's be real. I forgot. And I was almost there. It was really gonna be good."

That's okay, Jake. There's still time to practice an Oscar speech. And maybe even a musical number.

Photo: Jake Gyllenhaal proves he's secretly a song and dance man at the PSIFF awards gala.
(Eric Neitzel / WireImage)