
Director · Writer · Actor · 36 credits
Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal Sarsgaard (/ˈdʒɪlənhɔːl/JIL-ən-hawl, Swedish: [ˈjʏ̂lːɛnˌhɑːl]; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, nominations for two Academy Awards, and two British Academy Film Awards. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She began her career as a teenager with small roles in several of her father's films. She appeared with her brother in the thriller Donnie Darko (2001). She then appeared in Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (both 2002), and Mona Lisa Smile (2003). Gyllenhaal received praise for her leading performances in the dramas Secretary (2002) and Sherrybaby (2006), both of which earned her Golden Globe Award nominations. She had commercial success in the thriller World Trade Center (2006). She received wider recognition for her role as 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 the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently starred in the films Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010), Hysteria (2011), Won't Back Down (2012), White House Down (2013), Frank (2014), and The Kindergarten Teacher (2018). She has starred in several television series, including the BBC political thriller miniseries The Honourable Woman (2014), which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She also produced and starred in the HBO period drama series The Deuce (2017–2019). Gyllenhaal made her writing and directing debut with the psychological drama The Lost Daughter (2021), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and won the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay. She has also appeared in five stage productions since 2000, including making her Broadway debut in a revival of The Real Thing. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maggie Gyllenhaal, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Flesh Impact
2026
Director · Writer

The Bride!
2026
Writer · Director

The Lost Daughter
2021
Director · Writer

Homemade
2020
Writer · Director

The Kindergarten Teacher
2018
Lisa Spinelli

The Deuce
2017
Eileen 'Candy' Merrell

The Honourable Woman
2014
Nessa Stein

Frank
2014
Clara

White House Down
2013
Finnerty

Won't Back Down
2012
Jamie Fitzpatrick

Curiosity
2011
Host

Hysteria
2011
Charlotte Dalrymple

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
2010
Isabel Green

Crazy Heart
2009
Jean Craddock
9The Dark Knight
2008
Rachel

Gotham Tonight
2008
Rachel Dawes

Stranger Than Fiction
2006
Ana Pascal

World Trade Center
2006
Allison Jimeno

Monster House
2006
Zee (voice)

Paris Je T'aime
2006
Liz (Quartier des Enfants Rouges)

Trust the Man
2005
Elaine

Criminal
2004
Valerie

Mona Lisa Smile
2003
Giselle Levy

Adaptation.
2002
Caroline Cunningham

Secretary
2002
Lee Holloway
6Donnie Darko
2001
Elizabeth Darko

The Patron Saint of Liars
1998
Lorraine Thomas

Shattered Mind
1996
Clothes Clerk

Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story
1991
Noreen Bixler