Jake Gyllenhaal is a shape-shifting sorcerer

From his emaciated character in 2014’s Nightcrawler to his latest buff boxer in Southpaw, the actor must be dabbling in some dark magic

There's an elite group of Hollywood actors who have transcended the bounds of natural human ability. They've entered a realm of physical enlightenment which allows them to change forms for a specific role.

And Jake Gyllenhaal has just achieved this shape-shifting nirvana

2014 saw the actor as skinny, disheveled scumbag of a paparazzi with the film Nightcrawler:

Creepy!

Um… "No thank you, sir. I would not like some candy in your van."

But with this summer's Southpaw, the actor has made a complete transformation in a very short period of time...with the help of black magic, obviously.

Behold:

Sorcery! Burn the witch!

But Gyllenhaal isn't the only shapeshifting actor out there…

Of course there's the much gushed about Chris Pratt from his role as Andy Dwyer on Parks and Rec to his new incarnation in Guardians of the Galaxy:

And Matthew McConaughey's metamorphosis from sultry stripper in Magic Mike to emaciated aids victim in Dallas Buyers Club

Then there's Matthew's Dallas Buyers Club co-star Jared Leto, who gained 67 pounds to play the man who killed John Lennon in Chapter 27 only to lose all the ice cream flab in Dallas Buyers

Cameron Diaz is a shape-shifter too, as she was seen looking completely unrecognizable in Being John Malkovich as compared to The Mask

But none of these actors compare to Hollywood's greatest wizard...

Here's Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Night trilogy:

And here's the level 10 sorcerer revealing his black magic expertise in The Machinist:

Oh and there was the time he just let himself go with a sleezeball metamorphosis in American Hustle:

Now that Jake Gyllenhaal has gone from skinny to buff, the only thing left to do is to pack on the pounds and master the pudgy role role.

That one should be easy: