Jake Gyllenhaal's ''goal'' is to be a ''good man''.

The 'Southpaw' actor admits it a ''complicated'' target to try and achieve because of the ''complexities and darkness'' which people have within them.

He said: ''What else is there but the journey of trying to be a good person, or a good man?

''In this incarnation, that seems to be my goal. It's a complicated thing, because I think the idea of good doesn't subtract complexities, doesn't subtract darkness.''

Around five years ago, Jake, 34, made a deliberate career shift away from Hollywood blockbusters and admitted it came at a point where he was ''searching'' to find who he really was and what he believed in.

He explained to Details magazine: ''People say, 'You made all these changes in your life, and all your movies seem so different now. I really like the movies you're making now.' Which implies that they didn't...

''We're all told we're going to get to a place where those things will come together, where we'll somehow be whole or happy or whatever it is. So I went searching.

''I was at a place in my life where I felt totally split. I had just moved from Los Angeles to New York.

''There's a period of time in your life, in your twenties, when you're listening to a lot of other people's opinions. You're not sure about what you believe in, and you're moving in a direction that you feel like looks right to other people.

'' And then you think, Wait, what do I feel? What do I want? What moves me? It's not always so pure and clear. It's not like I have my agent on one shoulder and my pure artist on the other.''