
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Biography
Margalit "Maggie" Ruth Gyllenhaal (born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
Gyllenhaal began her career as a teenager with small roles in several of her father's films, and appeared with her brother in the cult favorite Donnie Darko (2001). She then appeared in Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (both 2002), and Mona Lisa Smile (2003). Gyllenhaal received critical acclaim for her leading performances in the erotic romantic comedy drama Secretary (2002) and the drama Sherrybaby (2006), each of which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. After several commercially successful films in 2006, including World Trade Center, she received wider recognition for playing Rachel Dawes in the superhero film The Dark Knight (2008).
For her performance as a single mother in Crazy Heart (2009), she received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently starred in the comedies and dramas: Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010), Hysteria (2011), and Won't Back Down (2012). Her other roles include a Secret Service agent in the action-thriller White House Down (2013), a musician in Frank (2014), and the title role in the drama The Kindergarten Teacher (2018). In 2021, Gyllenhaal made her writing and directing debut with the psychological drama The Lost Daughter, for which she won the Venice International Film Festival's Best Screenplay Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Gyllenhaal has also appeared in five stage productions since 2000, including making her Broadway debut in a revival of The Real Thing. She has starred in several television series, including the BBC political-thriller miniseries The Honourable Woman. For her performance, she won a Golden Globe award for Best Actress, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. She also produced and starred in the HBO period drama series The Deuce (2017–19). Gyllenhaal has been married to actor Peter Sarsgaard since 2009 and they have two children together.
Acting (49 movies)

Donnie Darko
2001

The Dark Knight
2008

Stranger Than Fiction
2006

Paris Je T'aime
2006

World Trade Center
2006

40 Days and 40 Nights
2002

Adaptation.
2002

Secretary
2002

Mona Lisa Smile
2003

The Great New Wonderful
2005

Crazy Heart
2009

Monster House
2006

Sherrybaby
2006

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
2010

Cecil B. Demented
2000

Criminal
2004

Trust the Man
2005

Strip Search
2004

Happy Endings
2005

Casa de los Babys
2003

Heath Ledger: A Tribute
2009

Away We Go
2009

Voyage to the Bunny Planet
2008

Won't Back Down
2012

The Patron Saint of Liars
1998

Hysteria
2011

A Dangerous Woman
1993

White House Down
2013

The Photographer
2000

Frank
2014

River of Fundament
2014

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2002

Shattered Mind
1996

Riding in Cars with Boys
2001

The New Empress
2016

High Falls
2007

Homegrown
1998

Beauty Mark
2016

Resurrection
1999

The Kindergarten Teacher
2018

The Pornographer: A Love Story
2004

Starring Austin Pendleton
2016

Sylvia Plath: Inside The Bell Jar
2018

Waterland
1992

Best Summer Ever
2020

The Sturgeon Queens
2014

The Ben Cobb Show
2019

Joker: Put on a Happy Face
2020

LOST TREASURES OF ARABIA: THE NABATAEAN KINGDOM
2025
Directing (2 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| The Kindergarten Teacher | 2018 | Producer |
| Best Summer Ever | 2020 | Executive Producer |
| The Lost Daughter | 2021 | Producer |
| The Lost Daughter | 2021 | Screenplay |
| The Bride! | 2026 | Producer |
| The Bride! | 2026 | Writer |

