Jake Gyllenhaal cracks up recounting the time he used pee to help a beachgoer stung by a jellyfish

Jake Gyllenhaal will be there to help you, even when you are suffering from a jellyfish sting. On April 21, the actor was seen on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” to promote his upcoming film “The Covenant." During his appearance, the two discussed the regular jobs they had before their rise to fame. At this time, Gyllenhaal remembered a story from his days as a teen lifeguard and Clarkson could not control her laughter.

Upon hearing this detail about his teenage years, Clarkson asked the actor to elaborate on his role. “It wasn’t like 'Baywatch,' necessarily,” Gyllenhaal clarified, adding that his job involved keeping pedestrians at a public beach away from a private beach nearby, reported TODAY. 

Referring to his job as more of a "boundary marker," Gyllenhaal noted that not many people were happy with being told where to be. "Most of the times I had to get up and be like, 'sorry,'" he recalled, "and then people were just pissed."

“So you were the person to remind them of what level they were at,” Clarkson quipped. Gyllenhaal went on to share an even more interesting moment from his job that required him to go beyond his normal responsibilities. He shared that when a beachgoer was stung by a jellyfish one day, he had to help the individual with his own pee.

“You peed on yourself or someone?” Clarkson asked Gyllenhaal, visibly stunned by his revelation. He insisted that someone else told him to pee on the person who had been stung. “They told me that that was what you had to do, and a person was in pain,” the actor shared, sending the host into fits of laughter.

“I suggested that they—that we should—use pee and at that point, you know, the pain of a jellyfish sting,” he said. “They wanted it. They would take anything, really.” As the audience and Clarkson enjoyed the story and could not stop laughing, the actor also noted that he didn’t actually pee on the person, to which Clarkson responded by saying that he must have peed in the cup. “It was their choice,” Gyllenhaal added, joking that he's “willing to (do whatever) to save a life.”

As for scientific facts on jellyfish stinging and peeing, according to the Cleveland Clinic, "The tentacles on jellyfish have stinging cells called nematocysts that contain venom. Coming into contact with a jellyfish, be it in the water or on a beach, results in the activation of these stingers and the release of venom. Somewhere along the way, a theory grew that peeing on a sting could neutralize the venom and make the intense pain go away. The logic is based upon ammonia and other compounds found in urine."

“Jellyfish stings are painful enough without amplifying the symptoms,” says Dr. Waters. “You might mean well by peeing on a sting, but putting the wrong substance on it can really make things worse."