
Peter Sarsgaard
Biography
John Peter Sarsgaard (born March 7, 1971) is an American actor. His first feature role was in Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), playing Raoul, the ill-fated son of Athos. Sarsgaard later achieved critical recognition when he was cast in Boys Don't Cry (1999) as John Lotter. He landed his first leading role in the 2001 film The Center of the World. The following year, he played supporting roles in Empire, The Salton Sea, and K-19: The Widowmaker.
For his portrayal of Charles Lane in Shattered Glass, Sarsgaard won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the 2004 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sarsgaard has appeared in an eclectic range of films, including the 2004 comedy-drama Garden State, the biographical film Kinsey (2004), the drama The Dying Gaul (2005), and big-budget films such as Flightplan (2005), Jarhead (2005), The Skeleton Key (2005), Orphan (2009), An Education (2009), Knight and Day (2010), Green Lantern (2011), Lovelace (2013), Kelly Reichardt's Night Moves (2013), Blue Jasmine (2013), Black Mass (2015), and The Magnificent Seven (2016). Sarsgaard also appeared in the American TV series The Killing (2013) as a man on death row perhaps wrongfully convicted for the brutal murder of his wife—a performance which he says included "some of the best acting I have ever done in my life." In 2021, he had a recurring role on the Hulu miniseries Dopesick.
Sarsgaard has appeared in Off-Broadway productions including Kingdom of Earth, Laura Dennis, Burn This, and Uncle Vanya. In September 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin in The Seagull. He is married to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Acting (63 movies)

Jarhead
2005

Boys Don't Cry
1999

Garden State
2004

Pet Shop Days
2025

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
2008

Kinsey
2004

Orphan
2009

Rendition
2007

The Salton Sea
2002

An Education
2009

Elegy
2008

K-19: The Widowmaker
2002

The Center of the World
2001

The Man in the Iron Mask
1998

Flightplan
2005

Empire
2002

The Skeleton Key
2005

Shattered Glass
2003

Year of the Dog
2007

The Dying Gaul
2005

In the Electric Mist
2009

Desert Blue
1999

Knight and Day
2010

Green Lantern
2011

Unconditional Love
2002

Mama's Little Devils: Bad Seeds and Evil Children
2009

Very Good Girls
2013

Robot & Frank
2012

Lovelace
2013

Night Moves
2014

The Bride!
2026

Blue Jasmine
2013

Freak City
1999

Memory
2023

Pawn Sacrifice
2015

Death of a Dynasty
2003

Housebound
2000

Experimenter
2015

Black Mass
2015

Ladygrey
2015

Dead Man Walking
1995

Coup!
2024

Valley Uprising
2014

Jackie
2016

The Magnificent Seven
2016

Another Day in Paradise
1998

High Falls
2007

The Cell
2000

September 5
2024

Loving Pablo
2017

Jake Gyllenhaal Challenges the Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
2010

Wormwood
2017

Mr. Jones
2019

Starring Austin Pendleton
2016

The Lie
2018

The Sound of Silence
2019

Human Capital
2020

The Survivor
2022

The Batman
2022

Subway Stories
1997

Best Summer Ever
2020

The Lost Daughter
2021

The Guilty
2021
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Lovelace | 2013 | Executive Producer |
| Best Summer Ever | 2020 | Executive Producer |
| Coup! | 2024 | Executive Producer |