Cast & creator
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Best known for Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal Sarsgaard (/ˈdʒɪlənhɔːl/JIL-ən-hawl, Swedish: [ˈjʏ̂lːɛnˌhɑːl]; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, nominations for two Academy Awards, and two British Academy Film Awards. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She began her career as a teenager with small roles in several of her father's films. She appeared with her brother in the thriller Donnie Darko (2001). She then appeared in Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (both 2002), and Mona Lisa Smile (2003). Gyllenhaal received praise for her leading performances in the dramas Secretary (2002) and Sherrybaby (2006), both of which earned her Golden Globe Award nominations. She had commercial success in the thriller World Trade Center (2006). She received wider recognition for her role as Rachel Dawes in the superhero film The Dark Knight (2008). For her performance as a single mother in Crazy Heart (2009), she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently starred in the films 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 Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She also produced and starred in the HBO period drama series The Deuce (2017–2019). 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 has also appeared in five stage productions since 2000, including making her Broadway debut in a revival of The Real Thing. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maggie Gyllenhaal, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Also known as: Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal, Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal Sarsgaard
67
film credits
31
television credits
81
1953–2026 · acting roles
6.2
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (98)
Showing 98 of 98 credits
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self
2014Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest
2014
The Daily Show
Self
1996
Late Show with David Letterman
Self
1993
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
The View
Self
1997The View
Self - Guest
1997
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Self
2005
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self
2014
The Dark Knight
Rachel
2008
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
2015
Independent Lens
1999
Chelsea
Self
2016
Finding Your Roots
Self
2012
The Oscars
Self
1953
The Bride!
Producer
2026The Bride!
Writer
2026The Bride!
Director
2026
The Deuce
Eileen 'Candy' Merrell
2017The Deuce
Producer
2017
Monster House
Zee (voice)
2006
Donnie Darko
Elizabeth Darko
2001
Secretary
Lee Holloway
2002
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Isabel Green
2010
Curiosity
Host
2011
White House Down
Finnerty
2013
The Lost Daughter
Director
2021The Lost Daughter
Producer
2021The Lost Daughter
Writer
2021
Homemade
Writer
2020Homemade
Director
2020
Mona Lisa Smile
Giselle Levy
2003
Adaptation.
Caroline Cunningham
2002
How To with John Wilson
Self
2020
The Honourable Woman
Nessa Stein
2014
World Trade Center
Allison Jimeno
2006
Stranger Than Fiction
Ana Pascal
2006
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Debbie
2002
Paris Je T'aime
Liz (Quartier des Enfants Rouges)
2006
40 Days and 40 Nights
Sam
2002
Riding in Cars with Boys
Amelia
2001
Crazy Heart
Jean Craddock
2009
Happy Endings
Jude
2005
Cecil B. Demented
Raven
2000
Trust the Man
Elaine
2005
Flesh Impact
Director
2026Flesh Impact
Writer
2026
Won't Back Down
Jamie Fitzpatrick
2012
Criminal
Valerie
2004
Hysteria
Charlotte Dalrymple
2011
Frank
Clara
2014
Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story
Noreen Bixler
1991
Away We Go
LN
2009
Gotham Tonight
Rachel Dawes
2008
The Kindergarten Teacher
Lisa Spinelli
2018The Kindergarten Teacher
Producer
2018
A Dangerous Woman
Patsy
1993
Joker: Put on a Happy Face
Self
2020
Shattered Mind
Clothes Clerk
1996
The Patron Saint of Liars
Lorraine Thomas
1998
Homegrown
Christina
1998
Casa de los Babys
Jennifer
2003
Sherrybaby
Sherry Swanson
2006
Waterland
Maggie Ruth
1992
Live from Studio Five
Self
2009
The Great New Wonderful
Emme Keeler
2005
The Ben Cobb Show
Amun Ra
2019
The Dying Gaul
Thanks
2005
Beauty Mark
Valerie
2016
Heath Ledger: A Tribute
Self
2009
Best Summer Ever
TV Reporter
2020Best Summer Ever
Executive Producer
2020Home
Ruth
2016
River of Fundament
Hathfertiti
2014
Starring Austin Pendleton
Self
2016
Strip Search
Linda Sykes
2004
The Photographer
Mira
2000
Sylvia Plath: Inside The Bell Jar
The Bell Jar Reader (voice)
2018
The Pornographer: A Love Story
Sidney
2004Creation Lake
Director
Creation Lake
Producer
Creation Lake
Screenplay
Resurrection
Mary
1999
The New Empress
Olive
2016
High Falls
April
2007
Voyage to the Bunny Planet
2008
BAM150
Self
2012The Misbehavers
Self
2004Quartier des Enfants-Rouges
Liz
2006
Lost Treasures of Arabia: The Nabataean Kingdom
Narrator (voice)
2025
The Sturgeon Queens
Self
2014