Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal is an American actress. She is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She began her film career as a teenager with roles in her father's films and appeared alongside her brother in the psychological horror film Donnie Darko. She garnered critical praise for starring as Lee Holloway in Secretary, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. For her performance in Sherrybaby, she...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth16 November 1977
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I'm still trying to figure out what the right line is between myself and the people I play. Sometimes I go too far one way or too far the other.
Most people are interested in seeing 27-year-old women who are in movies somehow connected to sex. It's interesting to everyone. Especially little movies that are having trouble getting made, there's always sex.
You're not going to do good work if you're not choosing something because it inspires you.
I think Secretary's funny, it is about sex, and there's a lot of sex in it, sex is the key, but you're talking about a lot of other complicated things.
I do seem to have a bit of a predilection for movies that say something transgressive.
I really want my kids to feel, is that they can be themselves in the world.
Some people would say you need what you need to work, but I need very little to work, because I learned how to make movies on tiny movies. It's all kind of easy for me.
There was something to me that was really compelling about that woman, already knowing she couldn't get pregnant. When I made that movie I was maybe 24, and to be 24 and already know you can't get pregnant, that was really interesting to me.
I liked that idea. Someone who's trying to perform herself and not succeeding.
I feel so gratified about having finished college. I learned how to articulate myself. It gave me confidence more than anything. And also the ability to analyze the text.
I didn't think at all about my body until after I stopped nursing. When I was nursing, my body was my daughter's, I didn't even think about it. Then I finished nursing, and I was kind of like "Oh, huh, wow, my body's so different."
I feel there is no shortage of real interesting women's roles. But I found them and did all of them just now.
These past couple of years have been about learning to not sabotage myself in a subtler way - for instance, even just by putting moisturiser on when I get out of the shower. Learning to honour myself and believing that I'm worth taking care of.
You're invited to tons of parties, and you'll wear these shoes and that dress, and it can be enticing, but I think it also sucks you dry. If you do it a little, sure, it's fun, but too much and you start to lose your footing.