The life of Jake Gyllenhaal, who was born into the movie industry and appeared in many movies with his family, and made a name for himself both with his acting and his help.
His full name is Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal, he was born on December 19, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. He was born to his mother, film producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and his father, film director Stephen Gyllenhaal. His older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. His father is of Swedish and English descent and his mother is of Jewish descent.
As a child, he was regularly exposed to filmmaking due to his family's ties to the motion picture industry. He made his acting debut in the comedy movie "City Slickers" (1991). In the following years, Gyllenhaal was only allowed to act in his father's films. In these; romantic drama film "A Dangerous Woman"(1993), "Bop Gun" a 1994 episode of "Homicide: Life on the Street", and the black comedy-drama thriller "Homegrown"(1998). The only other film not directed by his father and allowed to act before his senior year in high school was the comedy-drama movie "Josh and S.A.M."(1993).
He graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles in 1998 and then enrolled at Columbia University to study Eastern religions and philosophy. He then dropped out of school after two years to focus on acting, after a while he was able to continue and complete it. Gyllenhaal's first lead role was in "October Sky" (1999), a biographical drama film directed by Joe Johnston. The movie was positively received.
Gyllenhaal's second lead role came in the science fiction psychological thriller "Donnie Darko" (2001), directed by Richard Kelly. The film was not a box office success when it was released, but Gyllenhaal's performance was well received. His next role came with Jared Leto in "Highway" (2002). His performance received many mixed reviews. Gyllenhaal's next comedy-drama film "The Good Girl" (2002), in which she co-starred with Jennifer Aniston, was also more successful.
Later, he starred in the romantic comedy movie "Bubble Boy" (2001), directed by Blair Hayes. The film received mixed reviews from critics. He then appeared in "Moonlight Mile" (2002), with Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, and Ellen Pompeo. Gyllenhaal made his theatrical debut in a 2002 remake of Kenneth Lonergan's play "This Is Our Youth" at the Garrick Theatre, on the London stage. Gyllenhaal received critical acclaim for his performance and received an Evening Standard Theater Award.
Gyllenhaal co-starred with Dennis Quaid in the blockbuster science fiction movie "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004). The following year, he starred in the drama "Proof" with Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. Then, he starred in the movie "Jarhead" (2005), directed by Sam Mendes. Both films received generally positive reviews.
That same year, he co-starred with Heath Ledger in Ang Lee's romantic drama film "Brokeback Mountain" (2005). Despite differing opinions on the sexual orientation of the characters, the film, often referred to in the media as a "gay cowboy movie", won numerous awards, including the Golden Lion award. At the same time, the film won three Academy Awards, earning Gyllenhaal an Akamemi Award nomination. Additionally, the film won four Golden Globe Awards and Gyllenhaal, four British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs). He and Ledger won an MTV Movie Award in 2006. At the same time, Gyllenhaal was included in People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" list in 2006 and also in People magazine's "Hottest Singles of 2006" list.
He then appeared in the mystery thriller "Zodiac" (2007), directed by David Fincher. The movie received positive reviews. That same year, he starred alongside Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, and Reese Witherspoon in the political thriller "Rendition" (2007), directed by Gavin Hood. Two years later, he appeared with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman in Jim Sheridan's "Brothers" (2009), a remake of Susanne Bier's Danish film of the same name. The film received many mixed reviews and moderate box office returns.
In 2010, he played the lead role in the action fantasy movie "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", an adaptation of the video game of the same name. Later in the year, he appeared in the romantic comedy "Love & Other Drugs" alongside Anne Hathaway, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance. Gyllenhaal's only project in 2011 came with the thriller "Source Code".
Gyllenhaal co-starred with Michael Peña in the action thriller "End of Watch," directed by David Ayer. The movie was released in September 2012 and received positive reviews. He received tactical training to prepare for the role and participated in real police outings to help build the characters' language. In April 2012, Shalom Life placed Gyllenhaal sixth on their list of the "50 most talented, intelligent, funny and amazing Jewish men in the world".
In 2013, Gyllenhaal appeared in two films. The first was the thriller "Prisoners" directed by Aaron Guzikowski, which was praised for his "outstanding" performance in the film. The second film was the psychological drama film "Enemy" directed by Denis Villeneuve. Gyllenhaal, who produced and starred in the crime thriller "Nightcrawler" the following year, earned Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performance. That same year, he was listed #35 in Empire magazine's 100 Sexiest Movie Stars poll.
In 2015, Gyllenhaal starred with Jessica Biel in the romantic comedy "Accidental Love" and in the sports drama film "Southpaw" directed by Antoine Fuqua. He later appeared in the movie "Everest", based on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, directed by Baltasar Kormákur. The film was a commercial success. Most recently, he appeared in the comedy-drama film "Demolition" directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. In 2016, he starred in the neo-noir thriller "Nocturnal Animals" directed by Austin Wright. In October 2016, he appeared in four benefit concert performances as the title character in the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical "Sunday in the Park with George". Praised for Gyllenhaal's amazing singing.
In 2017, he starred in the science fiction horror movie "Life", the action-adventure movie "Okja" and the biographical drama movie "Stronger", respectively. The following year, he co-starred in the drama "Wildlife" with Carey Mulligan. In another poll conducted by Glamor magazine in 2018, he was named one of the Sexiest Men of 2018.
In 2019, he played the comic book villain Mysterio / Quentin Beck in "Spider-Man: Far From Home", the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie became one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Two years later, he starred in the detective thriller "The Guilty" (2021), a remake of the Danish film of the same name.
He starred as a criminal in the action thriller "Ambulance" (2022), directed by Michael Bay. The film received mixed reviews from critics. He will next star in the action thriller "Guy Ritchie's The Covenant" directed by Guy Ritchie and the action movie "Road House" (2023), directed by Doug Liman.
Personal life
Gyllenhaal's godfather is actor and director Paul Newman, and his godmother is actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Gyllenhaal's relationship with actress Kirsten Dunst began in 2002 when he introduced her to his sister, Maggie, who starred in the movie Mona Lisa Smile. The couple broke up on amicable terms in 2004. Dating with Reese Witherspoon from 2007 to 2009, Gyllenhaal was in a relationship with singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from October 2010 to January 2011. Then, he was in a relationship with model Alyssa Miller from July 2013 to December 2013. He has been in a relationship with French model Jeanne Cadieu since late 2018.
Gyllenhaal recycles regularly. He flew to the Arctic to raise awareness about climate change. The nature-loving actor, who is concerned with environmental issues, plants trees in the forests of Mozambique every year. In his spare time, he likes to cook and woodwork. Gyllenhaal believes in Buddhism. He has also signed on to help the TV fundraising event Stand Up to Cancer.
Jack and his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, went down in history as Academy Award nominees in the 21st century. Jack was nominated for an Oscar for the movie 'Brokeback Mountain' in which he starred in 2006, and Maggie for the movie 'Crazy Heart', which was released in 2010. Fully devoted to his roles, Gyleenhaal lost about 14 kg for the movie 'Nightcrawler' and starved himself for this and ran 25 kilometers a day. The actor, who takes care to meditate and spare time for himself, likes to ride a bicycle.