Maggie Gyllenhaal
ActingMargalit '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. She 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). She received critical acclaim for her leading performances in the erotic romantic 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, she 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. She 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). She has been married to actor Peter Sarsgaard since 2009 and they have two children together.
Known For
The Dark Knight
Rachel
Donnie Darko
Elizabeth Darko
Secretary
Lee Holloway
Monster House
Zee (voice)
White House Down
Finnerty
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Isabel Green
Mona Lisa Smile
Giselle Levy
Adaptation.
Caroline Cunningham
Paris Je T'aime
Liz (Quartier des Enfants Rouges)
Stranger Than Fiction
Ana Pascal
Filmography — Acting
The Dark Knight
Rachel
Donnie Darko
Elizabeth Darko
Secretary
Lee Holloway
Monster House
Zee (voice)
White House Down
Finnerty
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Isabel Green
Mona Lisa Smile
Giselle Levy
Adaptation.
Caroline Cunningham
Paris Je T'aime
Liz (Quartier des Enfants Rouges)
Stranger Than Fiction
Ana Pascal
Cecil B. Demented
Raven
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Debbie
Crazy Heart
Jean Craddock
World Trade Center
Allison Jimeno
Happy Endings
Jude
Hysteria
Charlotte Dalrymple
Riding in Cars with Boys
Amelia
A Dangerous Woman
Patsy
Away We Go
LN
Frank
Clara
Joker: Put on a Happy Face
Self
40 Days and 40 Nights
Sam
Strip Search
Linda Sykes
Criminal
Valerie
Trust the Man
Elaine
Won't Back Down
Jamie Fitzpatrick
Homegrown
Christina
Heath Ledger: A Tribute
Self
The Kindergarten Teacher
Lisa Spinelli
Waterland
Maggie Ruth
Sherrybaby
Sherry Swanson
Best Summer Ever
TV Reporter
Resurrection
Mary
Casa de los Babys
Jennifer
Starring Austin Pendleton
Self
River of Fundament
Hathfertiti
The Great New Wonderful
Emme Keeler
Shattered Mind
Clothes Clerk
High Falls
April
The Patron Saint of Liars
Lorraine Thomas
The Misbehavers
Self
The Photographer
Mira
The Pornographer: A Love Story
Sidney
BAM150
Self
Home
Ruth
Sylvia Plath: Inside The Bell Jar
The Bell Jar Reader (voice)
The Ben Cobb Show
Amun Ra
The New Empress
Olive
Beauty Mark
Valerie
Voyage to the Bunny Planet
Quartier des Enfants-Rouges
Liz
Lost Treasures of Arabia: The Nabataean Kingdom
Narrator (voice)
The Sturgeon Queens
Self