Jake Gyllenhaal

American actor (born 1980)

Jake Gyllenhaal is a renowned American actor who has had a successful career spanning over three decades. Born into a family of filmmakers, he has starred in a wide range of acclaimed films, from the biographical drama October Sky to the romantic drama Brokeback Mountain, for which he received critical acclaim.

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About the Jake Gyllenhaal

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaalis an American actor who has worked prolifically on screen and stage in a career spanning over thirty years. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in City Slickersand Homegrownand as a psychologically troubled teenager in the thriller film Donnie Darkoand Enemyand a troubled writer in Nocturnal Animalsand Road Houseand Broadway productions of the musical Sunday in the Park with Georgeas well as the plays Constellationsand Sea Wall/A Life (2019), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. Aside from acting, he is vocal about political and social issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Jake Gyllenhaal is an American actor.

Jake Gyllenhaal was born on December 19, 1980.

Jake Gyllenhaal was born into the Gyllenhaal family, with his father being a film director and his mother a screenwriter. His older sister is also an actress, Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s breakthrough roles were as Homer Hickam in the biographical drama film October Sky (1999) and as a psychologically troubled teenager in the thriller film Donnie Darko (2001).

For his role as Jack Twist in the 2005 romantic drama Brokeback Mountain, Jake Gyllenhaal won a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s highest-grossing release was the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), in which he portrayed the character Mysterio.

Yes, Jake Gyllenhaal has performed on stage, starring in a West End production of the play This Is Our Youth (2002) and Broadway productions of the musical Sunday in the Park with George (2017) as well as the plays Constellations (2014) and Sea Wall/A Life (2019).

12 Quotes by Jake Gyllenhaal

  1. 1.

    If you’re going to spend seven months of your life – for me seven months, for Roland Emmerich, 3, 4, 5 years of his life – doing something, I think you have to have something to say.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  2. 2.

    Even as an actor, I think like a storyteller. My parents raised us to look at the script.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  3. 3.

    I’m like, ‘What world am I living in?’ Aren’t movies made to have something to say? Why make a movie if you don’t have something to say? What are you doing it for? Are you doing it because you want to make a lot of money?

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  4. 4.

    I grew up in a family where many of our close friends were gay couples. As well as that, every man goes through a period of thinking they’re attracted to another guy.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  5. 5.

    Every man goes through a period of thinking they’re attracted to another guy.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  6. 6.

    It’s funny to me that people find other people getting coffee really interesting, or walking their dog in the dog park.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  7. 7.

    The best thing that I got was rehearsing with my father. It was always about the process of figuring things out, and trying something new, and having another take on something and keeping it alive.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  8. 8.

    We were talking about the kissing in the movie just recently. Clearly, it’s pretty challenging material, but Ang said two men herding sheep was far more sexual than two men having sex on screen.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  9. 9.

    I’m going to continue doing what I want to do. And if it means I want to go and make a big movie, if it has something to say, I will want to make it. I don’t want to spend my life wasting my time. If it’s a big movie, I want to do it. If it’s a small movie, I want to do it.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  10. 10.

    Crazy people don’t sit around wondering if they’re nuts.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  11. 11.

    Chris Cooper once told me to never have any regrets. After Chris said that to me, I walk into every scene thinking, ‘exhaust every possibility.’ Once you get to a certain place, it’s like you just deliver everything you’ve got. Don’t have any regrets. It pops up in my mind over and over and over again.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)

  12. 12.

    Don’t listen to what anybody says except the people who encourage you. If it’s what you want to do and it’s within yourself, then keep going and try to do it for the rest of your life.

    Jake Gyllenhaal

    American actor (born 1980)