Maggie Gyllenhaal

Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal Sarsgaard (born November 16, 1977), known professionally as Maggie Gyllenhaal, 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. Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, and a BAFTA Awards.

Gyllenhaal began her career taking early roles in Donnie Darko (2001), Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (both 2002), and Mona Lisa Smile (2003). She received Golden Globe Award nominations for her roles in Secretary (2002) and Sherrybaby (2006) and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for playing a single mother in Crazy Heart (2009). She portrayed Rachel Dawes in the superhero film The Dark Knight (2008) and acted in such films as World Trade Center (2006), 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 nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. She also produced and starred in the HBO period drama series The Deuce (2017–2019). On stage, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of the Tom Stoppard play The Real Thing (2014).

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 directed her sophomore film, the gothic romance The Bride! (2026), which she also served as a writer and producer.