Margaret Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal ( /ˈdʒɪlənhɔːl/; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal (née Achs) and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films. Gyllenhaal achieved recognition in a supporting role in the indie cult hit Donnie Darko (2001). Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 sadomasochistic romance Secretary, for which she received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination.
[>>]Source: WikipediaMargaret Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal ( /ˈdʒɪlənhɔːl/; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal (née Achs) and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films. Gyllenhaal achieved recognition in a supporting role in the indie cult hit Donnie Darko (2001). Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 sadomasochistic romance Secretary, for which she received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination.
Gyllenhaal has appeared in an eclectic range of films, including the indie film Sherrybaby (2006), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe, the romantic comedy Trust the Man (2006), and big-budget films such as World Trade Center (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008). She next starred in the 2009 musical-drama Crazy Heart, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Gyllenhaal has also appeared in theatrical plays, including Closer (2000), and television productions, including Strip Search (2004).
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. The 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 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq she participated in anti-war demonstrations. She is actively involved in human rights, civil liberty, and anti-poverty campaigns.
Early life
Gyllenhaal was born in New York City to film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and film producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal (née Achs). 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. Her last purely Swedish ancestor was her great-grandfather, a descendant of Leonard Gyllenhaal, a leading Swedenborgian who supported the printing and spreading of Swedenborg's writings. Her mother is a Jewish, with ancestors from Russia and Latvia, from New York City, and is the ex-wife of Eric Foner, a history professor at Columbia University. Gyllenhaal has stated that she "grew up mostly Jewish, culturally", and considers himself as "half Swedish, half Russian Jewish", though she did not attend Hebrew school. Her parents, who married in 1977, filed for divorce in October 2008.
Gyllenhaal grew up in Los Angeles and studied at the Harvard-Westlake prep school. In 1995 she graduated from Harvard-Westlake and moved to New York to attend Columbia University, where she studied literature and Eastern religions; she graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, she took a summer job working as a waitress in a Massachusetts restaurant.
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