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.

Filmography

• 2026Flesh Impact — Director, Writer
• 2026The Bride! — Producer, Writer, Director
• 2025Lost Treasures of Arabia: The Nabataean Kingdom — Narrator (voice)
• 2021The Lost Daughter — Director, Producer, Writer
• 2020Best Summer Ever — TV Reporter, Executive Producer
• Homemade — Writer, Director
• 2019The Ben Cobb Show — Amun Ra
• 2018Sylvia Plath: Inside The Bell Jar — The Bell Jar Reader (voice)
• 2018The Kindergarten Teacher — Lisa Spinelli, Producer
• The Deuce — Eileen 'Candy' Merrell, Producer
• 2016Beauty Mark — Valerie
• 2016Home — Ruth
• 2016The New Empress — Olive
• 2014Frank — Clara
• 2014River of Fundament — Hathfertiti
• The Honourable Woman — Nessa Stein
• 2013White House Down — Finnerty
• 2012Won't Back Down — Jamie Fitzpatrick
• Curiosity — Host
• 2011Hysteria — Charlotte Dalrymple
• 2010Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang — Isabel Green
• 2009Away We Go — LN
• 2009Crazy Heart — Jean Craddock
• Gotham Tonight — Rachel Dawes
• 2008The Dark Knight — Rachel
• 2008Voyage to the Bunny Planet
• 2007High Falls — April
• 2006Monster House — Zee (voice)
• 2006Paris Je T'aime — Liz (Quartier des Enfants Rouges)
• 2006Quartier des Enfants-Rouges — Liz
• 2006Sherrybaby — Sherry Swanson
• 2006Stranger Than Fiction — Ana Pascal
• 2006World Trade Center — Allison Jimeno
• 2005Happy Endings — Jude
• 2005The Dying Gaul — Thanks
• 2005The Great New Wonderful — Emme Keeler
• 2005Trust the Man — Elaine
• 2004Criminal — Valerie
• 2004Strip Search — Linda Sykes
• 2004The Pornographer: A Love Story — Sidney
• 2003Casa de los Babys — Jennifer
• 2003Mona Lisa Smile — Giselle Levy
• 200240 Days and 40 Nights — Sam
• 2002Adaptation. — Caroline Cunningham
• 2002Confessions of a Dangerous Mind — Debbie
• 2002Secretary — Lee Holloway
• 2001Donnie Darko — Elizabeth Darko
• 2001Riding in Cars with Boys — Amelia
• 2000Cecil B. Demented — Raven
• 2000The Photographer — Mira
• Independent Lens
• 1999Resurrection — Mary
• 1998Homegrown — Christina
• 1998The Patron Saint of Liars — Lorraine Thomas
• 1996Shattered Mind — Clothes Clerk
• 1993A Dangerous Woman — Patsy
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• 1992Waterland — Maggie Ruth
• Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story — Noreen Bixler
• LIVE with Kelly and Mark
• Creation Lake — Director, Producer, Screenplay

Appearances as themselves (24)

• How To with John Wilson — Self
• 2020Joker: Put on a Happy Face — Self
• Chelsea — Self
• 2016Starring Austin Pendleton — Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self, Self - Guest
• 2014The Sturgeon Queens — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
• 2012BAM150 — Self
• Finding Your Roots — Self
• 2009Heath Ledger: A Tribute — Self
• Live from Studio Five — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson — Self
• 2004The Misbehavers — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self
• The View — Self, Self - Guest
• The Daily Show — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• Late Show with David Letterman — Self
• The Oscars — Self