Jake Gyllenhaal is an American actor who has made a name for himself by appearing in numerous critically acclaimed films. He began his career at the age of 11 in City Slickers, and since then he has become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after stars.
Gyllenhaal was born on December 19th, 1980 in Los Angeles to director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner. His parents divorced when he was just eleven years old, but Jake remains close with both of them today. His sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
After appearing in several small roles as a child actor, Jake landed his first major role at age 16 playing opposite Heath Ledger in The Patriot (2000). From there his career quickly took off with starring roles such as Donnie Darko (2001), Bubble Boy (2001) and Moonlight Mile (2002). In 2003, he earned critical acclaim for his performance alongside Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy that same year.
In 2005, Gyllenhaal starred alongside Heath Ledger once again in Brokeback Mountain; the film earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and launched him into leading man status after its success at the box office. Since then he has appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters including Jarhead (2005), Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time (2010) Source Code (2011), End Of Watch (2012), Prisoners (2013), Southpaw (2015), Nocturnal Animals (2016), Life (2017), and Velvet Buzzsaw (2019). As well as being an accomplished actor on the big screen, Jake also had impressive turns on stage having won praise from critics during runs at London’s Donmar Warehouse theatre company production “Little Shop Of Horrors”.
Apart from acting Jake is involved with many charities such as “The Half Full Movement” which encourages people to live life to its fullest potential despite any challenges they may face. He also supports organizations like Artists For Peace And Justice which focuses on education programs around the world. Gyelenhall recently became ambassador UNICEF UK helping support vulnerable children across all corners of the globe.
With over two decades worth of experience under his belt Jake Gyllenhal continues to impress audiences worldwide proving time & time again why he is one if not THE go-to actors in Hollywood today.
Gyllenhaal was born on December 19th 1980 to director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner. His sister Maggie is also an actress. Jake began his career at age 11 when he appeared alongside his sister in the 1993 film A Dangerous Woman.
From there, he continued to appear in supporting roles until 1998’s October Sky catapulted him into stardom. In 2001, Gyllenhaal starred opposite Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl before taking a break from acting to attend Columbia University for a semester. After returning to Hollywood with Donnie Darko (2001), which earned him critical acclaim, Gyllenhaal went on to star in several more movies including Jarhead (2005) and Brokeback Mountain that same year – earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role as Ennis Del Mar.
In recent years, Gyllenhaal has transitioned from being known primarily as a leading man into becoming an all-around versatile performer capable of playing both lead and support characters alike. Aside from acting Jake also produces films through his production company Nine Stories Productions; some noteworthy titles include Enemy (2013), Nightcrawler (2014), Wildlife (2018) and Velvet Buzzsaw (2019).
Today Jake continues to be one of Hollywood’s busiest stars with no signs of slowing down anytime soon – having recently signed up for upcoming projects such as Spiderman: Far From Home 2 & 3. With so much success under his belt already it will be interesting what other paths this multi-talented artist takes next.
