Actor Gyllenhaal injures hand punching mirror on set

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal arrives at the 17th annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Oct 21, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (AFP/Getty Images/Jason Kempin)

LOS ANGELES: US movie star Jake Gyllenhaal had to have "numerous" stitches to his hand after punching a mirror on the set of his latest film, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The actor, who co-starred in 2005's Oscar-winning "Brokeback Mountain", was treated in a hospital emergency room after the accident on the set of "Nightcrawler".

"While Jake was filming an intense scene... his character purposefully banged his hand into the mirror. Unfortunately the mirror accidentally broke, and Jake's hand was badly cut up," his spokeswoman Mara Buxbaum told AFP.

"He received numerous stitches at the ER and was released a couple hours later. He already returned to set for work," she added.

In the movie, 32-year-old Gyllenhaal plays a freelance reporter investigating Los Angeles' crime underworld. He has lost a lot of weight to prepare for the role, with some photos showing him looking alarmingly gaunt.

The incident happened on set Wednesday morning, according to a source cited by People magazine, adding that he was in character, at the end of an 18-hour day.

"Jake flipped out," the source told the celebrity bible. "His character was looking into a mirror during the scene and punched the mirror in anger and broke it, cutting himself so bad he had to be taken to a hospital."

"The scene was emotionally charged and his character was talking into a mirror and he got so into it, he banged his hands against the mirror and it broke and cut him."

The unidentified source added: "It was all the scene and not because he was mad about anything else."