• Upcoming
• Trailers

click image for larger view

See "Maggie Gyllenhaal" Posters

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Born 1977-11-16 in New York, NY
An Actor

Discuss Maggie Gyllenhaal here...

In Brief:

Maggie Ruth Gyllenhaal (born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the sister of Jake Gyllenhaal and the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner. Gyllenhaal began her acting career being directed by her father, she achieved recognition in her own right playing her real-life brother's on-screen sister in the cult hit Donnie Darko. Gyllenhaal's breakthrough came with the S&M black comedy Secretary for which she received a Golden Globe-nomination. Gyllenhaal has chosen an eclectic range of roles to showcase her talent, from indie films such as Sherrybaby to the rom-com Trust the Man and big budget studio films such as World Trade Center. Gyllenhaal is a politically active Democrat and like her brother and parents supports the American Civil Liberties Union. Gyllenhaal participated in anti-war demonstrations in the lead up to the Iraqi conflict and achieved some notoriety for being quoted as saying America was "responsible in some way" for the 9/11 attacks.

---

Bio:

Gyllenhaal was born in New York, to film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and film producer and screenwriter Naomi Achs. Gyllenhaal's father was raised in the Swedenborgian religion and is a descendant of the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family; her last Swedish ancestor was his great-great-grandfather, Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal. Her mother is from a New York City Jewish-American family; she is the ex-wife of Eric Foner, a history professor at Columbia University.

Gyllenhaal grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from the Harvard-Westlake prep school. While there, she attended a semester away program in Vershire, Vermont called The Mountain School. She graduated from Columbia University in 1998 with a BA in Literature and Eastern religions and spent a summer studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Gyllenhaal's first film roles were directed by her father: Waterland (1992), her feature film debut, A Dangerous Woman (1993), and Homegrown (1998), the latter two also featured her brother. After graduating from college, she had a number of innocuous supporting roles, in such films as 40 Days and 40 Nights, Riding in Cars with Boys and Cecil B. DeMented . Paper Magazine has described these roles, including her gimmicky casting as Donnie Darko`s sister opposite real-life brother Jake, as "the girl you're not supposed to notice".

Gyllenhaal's break-out role was in the black comedy Secretary (2002), a film about two people who embark on a mutually fulfilling BDSM lifestyle. The film earned Gyllenhaal widespread acclaim including a Golden Globe nomination; it also marked the first time Gyllenhaal performed full frontal nudity on camera. Gyllenhaal had some initial doubts about doing the film, although impressed with the script she was unsure about what message director Steven Shainberg was wanting to make and was also concerned that the move would take an anti-feminist point of view , though after talking to him and meticulously going through the script they agreed to "explore" the film together. Although insisting Shainberg did not exploit her Gyllenhaal has said she felt "felt slightly taken advantage of" and in agreeing to do certain scenes she "conceded in a way that maybe in retrospect I wish I hadn't."

She followed the film with a stream of supporting roles in such films as the Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman comedy Adaptation. and Mona Lisa Smile starring Julia Roberts. She also appeared in smaller independent films such as John Sayles's Casa de los Babys, and Criminal with John C. Reilly and Diego Luna. She recently played a love interest of Harold Crick, played by Will Ferrell, in Stranger Than Fiction.

She has also appeared in the theater. She starred as Alice in the Mark Taper Forum production of Patrick Marber's Closer. She also graced the stage at the Taper in a production of Tony Kushner's Homebody/ Kabul; Kushner gave Gyllenhaal the role in Homebody/ Kabul on the strength of her performance in Closer. She has appeared on the stage in London, in Anthony and Cleopatra at the Vanborough Theatre.

She has modeled for Miu Miu, a branch of the Prada fashion house, and for Reebok.

Gyllenhaal has been in a relationship with actor Peter Sarsgaard since 2002. They announced their engagement in April 2006. They have a daughter, Ramona, born on October 3, 2006, and reside in Manhattan.

Sarsgaard is close friends with her brother Jake. Gyllenhaal also maintains a friendship with her Mona Lisa Smile co-star Kirsten Dunst, who once dated Jake.

In April 2003, Gyllenhaal spoke at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in her first college speaking engagement. Her comments focused on criticisms of the film industry and what her experience had been like to that point.

Gyllenhaal drew fire after an interview with NY1 at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival where she suggested that the United States was somewhat responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks. She stated, "I think America has done reprehensible things and is responsible in some way..." In response to criticism, she issued a statement saying that 9/11 was "an occasion to be brave enough to ask some serious questions about America's role in the world" and that it was "useful as individuals or nations to ask how we may have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this conflict." She denied that she said the 9/11 attacks were deserved. Gyllenhaal later said that she regretted what she said and that film interviews weren't the "right place" to discuss politics. Gyllenhaal also said that she had "nothing but gratitude and admiration" for firefighters and that she wished she "had been more gentle and more thoughtful" with her comments.

Gyllenhaal eventually met with Port Authority officer Will Jimeno and his wife, Allison, whom Gyllenhaal depicted in the 2006 film World Trade Center. Gyllenhaal said she would have left the project if they wanted her to, but Allison Jimeno said they felt comfortable with her and "had no problem with her in this movie."

---

Filmography:

• Stranger than Fiction (2006)
• Trust the Man (2006)
• Sherrybaby (2006)
• World Trade Center (2006)
• Monster House (2006)
• The Great New Wonderful (2005)
• Happy Endings (2005)
• Criminal (2004)
• Strip Search (2004)
• Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
• Casa de los babys (2003)
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
• Adaptation (2002)
• 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)
• Secretary (2002)
• Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
• Donnie Darko (2001)
• The Pornographer: A Love Story (2000)
• Cecil B. DeMented (2000)
• The Photographer (2000)
• Resurrection (1999)
• Homegrown (1998)
• The Patron Saint of Liars (1998)
• Shattered Mind (1996)
• A Dangerous Woman (1993)
• Waterland (1992)

---