Jake Gyllenhaal unwittingly filmed some driving scenes for Michael Bay's Ambulance

Jake Gyllenhaal unwittingly ended up operating the camera for some of the driving scenes for his new movie Ambulance.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night, the actor described how the tight space in the front of the ambulance meant that director Michael Bay would often pass him the camera to hold during specific fast-paced sequences.

"We drove this ambulance all around Los Angeles and we actually drove really on streets, and (co-star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) was actually driving," he said. "And occasionally, Michael wouldn't have the right angle because he would like the light but he couldn't ask me to move because there was no space, so he would just like pass me the camera (and I'd operate) the camera."

Host Jimmy then asked Jake if he received a cinematography credit for the movie.

"Absolutely not. That was out of pure necessity and his hand was technically on the camera while I was holding it," the actor laughed.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Jake and Yahya described how Michael kept them on their toes throughout the shoot.

And on one day, the actors thought they had wrapped, but ended up shooting an intense scene in which two helicopters fly under a bridge.

"That wasn't in the script," the 41-year-old commented. "We were driving the ambulance back to where we were going to get into our civvies and we had a call from Michael Bay and he said, 'You know I've got the L.A. River open. Drive back.' He found a way into the L.A. River... so we drove under a bridge and he's like, 'I've got two helicopters and we're going to fly the two helicopters under the bridge. It's going to be great.' I was like, 'How the f**k did you get two helicopters out in the middle of nowhere?'"

Ambulance, also starring Eiza Gonzalez, is set to open in U.S. cinemas on 8 April.