Maggie Gyllenhaal
Acting • Born 1977-11-16
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. 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.
Filmography
82 credits
Donnie Darko
Movie • 2001
Elizabeth Darko
The Dark Knight
Movie • 2008
Rachel
Stranger Than Fiction
Movie • 2006
Ana Pascal
Paris Je T'aime
Movie • 2006
Liz (Quartier des Enfants Rouges)
World Trade Center
Movie • 2006
Allison Jimeno
40 Days and 40 Nights
Movie • 2002
Sam
Adaptation.
Movie • 2002
Caroline Cunningham
Secretary
Movie • 2002
Lee Holloway
Mona Lisa Smile
Movie • 2003
Giselle Levy
The Great New Wonderful
Movie • 2005
Emme Keeler
Crazy Heart
Movie • 2009
Jean Craddock
Monster House
Movie • 2006
Zee (voice)
Sherrybaby
Movie • 2006
Sherry Swanson
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Movie • 2010
Isabel Green
Cecil B. Demented
Movie • 2000
Raven
Criminal
Movie • 2004
Valerie
Trust the Man
Movie • 2005
Elaine
Strip Search
Movie • 2004
Linda Sykes
Happy Endings
Movie • 2005
Jude
Casa de los Babys
Movie • 2003
Jennifer
Heath Ledger: A Tribute
Movie • 2009
Self
Away We Go
Movie • 2009
LN
Voyage to the Bunny Planet
Movie • 2008
Won't Back Down
Movie • 2012
Jamie Fitzpatrick
The Patron Saint of Liars
Movie • 1998
Lorraine Thomas
Hysteria
Movie • 2011
Charlotte Dalrymple
A Dangerous Woman
Movie • 1993
Patsy
White House Down
Movie • 2013
Finnerty
The Photographer
Movie • 2000
Mira
Frank
Movie • 2014
Clara
River of Fundament
Movie • 2014
Hathfertiti
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Movie • 2002
Debbie
BAM150
Movie • 2012
Self
The Misbehavers
Movie • 2004
Self
Shattered Mind
Movie • 1996
Clothes Clerk
Quartier des Enfants-Rouges
Movie • 2006
Liz
Riding in Cars with Boys
Movie • 2001
Amelia
Home
Movie • 2016
Ruth
The New Empress
Movie • 2016
Olive
High Falls
Movie • 2007
April
Homegrown
Movie • 1998
Christina
Beauty Mark
Movie • 2016
Valerie
Resurrection
Movie • 1999
Mary
The Kindergarten Teacher
Movie • 2018
Lisa Spinelli
The Pornographer: A Love Story
Movie • 2004
Sidney
Starring Austin Pendleton
Movie • 2016
Self
Sylvia Plath: Inside The Bell Jar
Movie • 2018
The Bell Jar Reader (voice)
Waterland
Movie • 1992
Maggie Ruth
Best Summer Ever
Movie • 2020
TV Reporter
The Sturgeon Queens
Movie • 2014
Self
The Ben Cobb Show
Movie • 2019
Amun Ra
Joker: Put on a Happy Face
Movie • 2020
Self
Lost Treasures of Arabia: The Nabataean Kingdom
Movie • 2025
Narrator (voice)
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV • 2003
Self
The Daily Show
TV • 1996
Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
The View
TV • 1997
Self
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
TV • 1992
Finding Your Roots
TV • 2012
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV • 1993
Self - Guest
Independent Lens
TV • 1999
Live from Studio Five
TV • 2009
Self
The Honourable Woman
TV • 2014
Nessa Stein
Late Show with David Letterman
TV • 1993
Self
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self
The View
TV • 1997
Self - Guest
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self
The Graham Norton Show
TV • 2007
Self
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
TV • 2005
Self
The Deuce
TV • 2017
Eileen 'Candy' Merrell
Chelsea
TV • 2016
Self
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
How To with John Wilson
TV • 2020
Self
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
TV • 2015
Self
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
TV • 2009
Self - Guest
Gotham Tonight
TV • 2008
Rachel Dawes
Curiosity
TV • 2011
Host
Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story
TV • 1991
Noreen Bixler
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
TV • 2014
Self
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self - Guest
Late Night with Seth Meyers
TV • 2014
Self - Guest