Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal Sarsgaard, popularly known as Maggie Gyllenhaal is an American actress known for her minor but impactful performances in films. She had the biggest role of her career as a lead in the film ‘The Dark Knight’. Maggie is the daughter of notable filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner and she is the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Maggie was born in New York and her family moved to Los Angeles, California, when she was an infant.
She developed an interest in acting during her teens and started taking drama classes at Harvard-Wakeland prep academy. She made her debut in film at the age of fifteen with ‘Waterland’ which was directed by her father. She made her theatrical debut in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre production of Patrick Marber's ‘Closer’ and received positive reviews for the same. Her break-out role was in the dark comedy ‘Secretary’ for which she won her first major award along with a lot of critical acclaim. Maggie is married to actor Peter Sarsgaard and the couple has two daughters, Ramona and Gloria Ray Sarsgaard.
Maggie Gyllenhaal made her debut in films at the age of fifteen in 1992 with ‘Waterland’ which was directed by her father. Her next two films, ‘A Dangerous Woman’ (1993) and ‘Homegrown’ (1998) were also directed by her father and featured her brother as well. She also appeared in the television movie ‘The Patron Saint of Liars’ in 1998.
She made her debut in theatre with ‘Closer’ in 2000 and had a supporting act in the films ‘Cecil B. Demented’ in 2000 and ‘Riding in Cars with Boys’ in 2001. Maggie received a lot of recognition for her performance in ‘Donnie Darko’ in 2001.
Secretary’ in 2002 launched her to stardom and she won her first award for her performance in the film. She showed her range by appearing in the comedy movies ‘Adaptation’ and ’40 Days and 40 Nights’ in 2002.
Maggie Gyllenhaal then starred in the movies ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’ (2002), ‘Casa de los Babys’ (2003), and ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ (2003) and returned to theatre with ‘Homebody/Kabul’ in 2003.
Over the next couple of years, she appeared in ‘Criminal’ (2004), ‘Strip Search’ (2004), ‘Happy Endings’ (2005), ‘The Great New Wonderful’ (2005), and ‘Trust the Man’ (2005). She then played the role of a young drug addict in ‘Sherrybaby’ in 2006.
She appeared in ‘Paris, je t'aime’, ‘World Trade Center’ and ‘Stranger than Fiction’ in 2006 and gave her voice for ‘Monster House’ the same year. She also appeared in a short film ‘High Falls’ in 2007.
Maggie Gyllenhaal played the lead in the commercially successful film ‘The Dark Knight’ in 2008. She played the role of a bohemian college professor in ‘Away We Go’ in 2009 and acted in the play ‘Uncle Vanya’ in 2009.
She received a lot of critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for her supporting act in the film ‘Crazy Heart’ in 2009. She appeared in the movies ‘Nanny McPhee Returns’ (2010) and ‘Hysteria’ (2011), and also acted in the Classic Stage Company’s production ‘Three Sisters’ in 2011. She hosted the documentary ‘Discovery's "Curiosity"’ in 2012 and appeared in the television movie ‘The Corrections’ in 2012.
She starred in ‘Won't Back Down’ (2012), ‘White House Down ‘ (2013), ‘Frank’ (2014), ‘River of Fundament’ (2014) and American Airlines Theater’s ‘The Real Thing’ in 2014. She also appeared in a TV mini-series ‘The Honourable Woman’ in 2014.
Gyllenhaal's narration performance of ‘Anna Karenina’ by Leo Tolstoy was made available for purchase in August 2016. She played herself in one episode of ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ in 2016 and narrated the documentary ‘Truth and Power’ the same year. She appeared in the TC show ‘The Deuce’ in 2017.
