Maggie Gyllenhaal
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| Maggie Gyllenhaal | |
|---|---|
Gyllenhaal at the 2010 Academy Awards
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| Born | Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal[1][2] November 16, 1977 New York City, New York, US |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Spouse(s) | Peter Sarsgaard (m. 2009) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | Stephen Gyllenhaal Naomi Foner |
| Family | Jake Gyllenhaal (brother) |
Gyllenhaal has appeared in an eclectic range of films, including Sherrybaby (2006), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe; the romantic comedy, Trust The Man (2006); and numerous big-budget films such as World Trade Center (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008). She next starred in the musical-drama, Crazy Heart (2009), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jean Craddock. Gyllenhaal has also appeared in such theatrical plays as Closer (2000) as well as in television productions like Strip Search (2004) and The Honourable Woman (2014).
Gyllenhaal has been in a relationship with actor Peter Sarsgaard since 2002. In 2006, the two became engaged, and Gyllenhaal gave birth to their daughter, Ramona, on October 3, 2006. On May 2, 2009, she married Sarsgaard in Italy. Their second daughter, Gloria Ray, was born April 19, 2012. Gyllenhaal is a politically active Democrat and, like her brother and parents, supports the American Civil Liberties Union. Prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq she participated in anti-war demonstrations. She is actively involved in human rights, civil liberty, anti-poverty and parent trigger causes.
Contents
Early life
Gyllenhaal was born in New York City to film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and film producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal (née Achs).[8] Jake Gyllenhaal, her younger brother, is also an actor. Her father, who was raised in the Swedenborgian religion, is of Swedish and English ancestry, and is a member of the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family.[9] Her last native Swedish ancestor was her great-great-grandfather Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, a descendant of Leonard Gyllenhaal, a leading Swedenborgian who supported the printing and spreading of Swedenborg's writings.[10] Her mother was born in New York City, and is from a Jewish family (they immigrated from Russia and Lithuania). Her mother's ex-husband is Eric Foner, a noted historian and history professor at Columbia University.[9][11][12][13][14] Gyllenhaal has stated that she "grew up mostly Jewish, culturally", though she did not attend Hebrew school.[15] Married in 1977, her parents filed for divorce in October 2008.[16] The name on Maggie Gyllenhaal's birth certificate is Margalit, which she did not discover until 2013 when she officially changed it to "Maggie".[17][18] Margalit is a Hebrew word meaning "Pearl"; some news stories spelt it "Margolit".Gyllenhaal grew up in Los Angeles, California, and studied at the Harvard–Westlake prep school.[13] In 1995, she graduated from Harvard–Westlake and moved to New York to attend Columbia University, where she studied literature and Eastern religions;[13][19] she graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[13] After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London,[20] she took a summer job working as a waitress in a Massachusetts restaurant.[21]
Career
Early work
Gyllenhaal's first films—her feature film debut at the age of 15, Waterland (1992); A Dangerous Woman (1993); and Homegrown (1998)—were directed by her father; the last two also featured her brother; they had supporting roles as children.[13] With their mother, she and Jake appeared in two episodes of Molto Mario, an Italian cooking show on the Food Network.[22] After graduating from college, she played supporting roles in films like Cecil B. Demented (2000) and Riding in Cars with Boys (2001).[23] Gyllenhaal later achieved recognition in her own right playing her real brother's on-screen sister in the indie cult hit Donnie Darko (2001).[24]She made her theatrical debut in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre production of Patrick Marber's Closer,[25][26] for which she received favorable reviews.[27][28] Production started in May 2000 and ended in mid-July of that year.[27] Gyllenhaal has performed in several other plays, including The Tempest,[29] Antony and Cleopatra, The Butterfly Project, and No Exit.[30]
2002–2005
Gyllenhaal attending an event in Barcelona, Spain, in 2008
She next played a supporting role in the comedy-drama Adaptation. (2002), a film that tells the story of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's struggle to adapt The Orchid Thief into a film.[40] She later appeared in the unauthorized biography Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), part of an ensemble cast that included Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts.[41] The movie grossed $33 million worldwide.[42] That same year, she had a smaller role in the comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights.[43]
In 2003, she co-starred with Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile in the role of Giselle.[44] In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, she revealed the reason for accepting the role was "to play somebody who feels confident in herself as a sexy, beautiful woman".[45] The film generated mostly critical reviews,[46] with Manohla Dargis of the Los Angeles Times describing it as "smug and reductive".[47] Her next roles were in smaller independent films: Casa de los Babys (2003), a story about six American women impatiently waiting out their lengthy residency requirements in an unidentified South American country before picking up their adoptive babies,[48] and Criminal (2004), a remake of the Argentinian film Nine Queens, with John C. Reilly and Diego Luna.[49] Gyllenhaal plays an honest hotel manager forced to help her crooked brother (Reilly) by seducing one of his victims.[49] Gyllenhaal was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2004.[50] She starred in the HBO film Strip Search (2004), where she portrayed an American student in China suspected of terrorism.[51]
In 2004, Gyllenhaal returned to theater in a Los Angeles production of Tony Kushner's Homebody/ Kabul as Priscilla, the Homebody's daughter, who spends most of the play searching for her elusive mother in Kabul, Afghanistan. Kushner gave her the role in Homebody/ Kabul on the strength of her performance in Closer.[52] Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote: "Ms. Gyllenhaal provides the essential bridge between the parts of the play's title."[53] John Heilpern of The New York Observer noted that Gyllenhaal's performance was "compelling".[54] Viewed as a sex symbol, she was ranked in the "Hot 100 List" by Maxim magazine in 2004 and 2005.[55][56]
Gyllenhaal's next film role was in the 2005 comedy-drama Happy Endings, in which she played an adventuress singer who seduces a young gay musician (Jason Ritter) as well as his rich father (Tom Arnold). She recorded songs for the movie's soundtrack,[44][57] calling the role the "roughest, scariest acting ever" and adding she is more natural when singing on screen than when acting.[57] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly declared Gyllenhaal's performance "as wonderfully, naturally slouchy-sexy as her character is artificial".[58]
2006–present
Gyllenhaal at the 66th Golden Globe Awards, January 11, 2009
In Sherrybaby, Gyllenhaal played a young drug-addicted thief trying to put her life in order after prison so she can reconcile with her daughter. During promotion of the film, she noted of her portrayal of the character: "I think she's in such dire straights [sic] that all she has are these kind of naive, fierce hope. And while I was playing the part I was looking for pleasure and hope in everything, even in these really bleak things. And so it was really mostly after I finished the movie that I felt pain."[70] Her performance in the film was well received: David Germain of the Associated Press wrote, "Gyllenhaal humanizes her so deeply and richly ... that Sherry elicits sympathy even in her darkest and weakest moments",[71] and Dennis Harvey of Variety called her performance "naturalistic".[72] For her work, Gyllenhaal earned her second Golden Globe Best Actress nomination[73] and won the Best Actress category award at the 2006 Stockholm International Film Festival.[74]
Gyllenhaal at the premiere of The Dark Knight in New York City, July 14, 2008
Gyllenhaal played Yelena in the Classic Stage Company's 2009 Off Broadway production of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya in New York City.[82][83] The cast also included Peter Sarsgaard, Mamie Gummer, Denis O'Hare, and George Morfogen.[82][83] The production, directed by Austin Pendleton, began previews on January 17 and ended its limited run on March 1.[82][83] Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News was less than enthusiastic about her performance, writing: "Gyllenhaal, who was so dynamic as a druggie in the film Sherrybaby, plays Yelena with a slow-mo saunter and monotonous pasted-on smile that makes it seem as if she's been in Sherry's stash."[84] However, Malcolm Johnson of the Hartford Courant was complimentary, noting that she "ultimately blossoms" as the character.[85]
Gyllenhaal agreed to appear in the comedy film Away We Go, where she plays a bohemian college professor who is an old friend of John Krasinski's character.[86][87] The film generated broadly mixed reviews,[88] with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly describing Gyllenhaal's subplot as "over-the-top".[89] However, A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised Gyllenhaal and co-star Allison Janney for their performances, writing that "both [are] quite funny".[90] Scott concluded with, "Ms. Gyllenhaal's line about sex roles in 'the seahorse community' is the screenplay's one clean satirical bull's-eye".[90] Her next role came in the musical-drama Crazy Heart, in which she played journalist Jean Craddock, who falls for musician Bad Blake, played by Jeff Bridges.[91] The movie received favorable reviews,[92] with Gyllenhaal receiving praise from critics. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone reported that Gyllenhaal was "funny, touching and vital as Jean" and that her part was "conventionally conceived, but Gyllenhaal plays it with a tough core of intelligence and feeling."[93] Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[94]
In 2010, Gyllenhaal appeared in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, the sequel to the 2005 film Nanny McPhee.[95] The role required her to speak with an English accent.[96] The feature received mixed reviews,[97] and earned $93 million worldwide.[98] Away from acting, she served as host of the PBS television documentary series Independent Lens.[99] Gyllenhaal also appeared in Hysteria, an independent movie focusing on the creation of the vibrator.[100]
In February 2011 Gyllenhaal starred in another Anton Chekhov production as the character Masha in Austin Pendleton's Three Sisters at the Classic Stage Company.[101] The play focuses on the Prozorov sisters (Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hecht, and Juliet Rylance) "unlucky in love, unhappy in the provinces and longing to return to Moscow", as summarized by Bloomberg's Jeremy Gerard.[102] The off-Broadway production began preview performances on January 12, with a limited engagement through March 6.[103]
In the 2012 film, Won't Back Down, she played a parent involved in a parent trigger takeover of her child's school. She appeared as a Secret Service agent in the action-thriller White House Down (2013).[104] In 2014, she played the title role as an Anglo-Israeli business-woman in the BBC Television series, The Honourable Woman.[105]
Personal life
Peter Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal at the New York premiere of An Education in October 2009
Activism
Politics
Gyllenhaal is politically active. At the 18th Independent Spirit Awards, she spoke out against the Iraq war, stating the reason for the invasion was "oil and imperialism".[114][115] In 2005, Gyllenhaal drew controversy for her statement that the September 11 attacks were "an occasion to be brave enough to ask some serious questions about America's role in the world [...] It is always useful as individuals or nations to ask how we may have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this conflict."[116] Gyllenhaal took part in Artists United to Win Without War, a campaign started by Robert Greenwald with the aim of advancing progressive causes and voicing opposition to the Iraq War.[20][117] She and her brother Jake filmed a commercial for Rock the Vote, and visited the University of Southern California (USC) campus to encourage students to vote in the 2004 U.S. presidential election,[118] in which she supported John Kerry.[119][120] Gyllenhaal supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.[121][122] She has campaigned on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization her family strongly supports.[123][124]In June 2013, Gyllenhaal and numerous other celebrities appeared in a video showing support for Chelsea Manning.[125][126]
Charity work
Besides acting, Gyllenhaal has modeled for Miu Miu[127] Reebok,[128] and Agent Provocateur,[129] and recorded the first unabridged audiobook version of Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar.[130] Gyllenhaal is a supporter of Witness, a non-profit organization that uses video and online technologies to expose human rights violations.[131][132] She co-hosted a benefit dinner with founder Peter Gabriel in November 2007.[133][134] Gyllenhaal helped raise funds for TrickleUp.org, a non-profit organization that helps impoverished people start a micro-enterprise.[135] For one of the fundraisers, Gyllenhaal helped design and promote a necklace that sold for $100; all proceeds from sales went to the charity.[136] In October 2008 she hosted a fashion show event called "Fashionably Natural", which was presented by Gen Art and SoyJoy in Los Angeles.[137][138] The show featured four up-and-coming designers who only worked with all-natural and eco-friendly fabrics and materials.[137][138]Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Shattered Mind | Clothes clerk | TV movie |
| 1998 | The Patron Saint of Liars | Lorraine Thomas | TV movie |
| 1999 | Resurrection | Mary | TV movie |
| 1999 | Shake, Rattle, and Roll: An American Love Story | Noreen Bixler | TV Movie |
| 2004 | Strip Search | Linda Sykes | TV movie |
| 2012 | Discovery's "Curiosity" | Host | Documentary |
| 2012 | The Corrections | Denise | TV Movie |
| 2014 | The Honourable Woman | Nessa Stein | TV miniseries |
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