Jake Gyllenhaal

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (Swedish: [ˈjʏ̂lːɛnˌhɑːl]; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner. He began acting as a child, and made his acting debut in City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Homegrown (1998). His breakthrough performances followed soon after, portraying Homer Hickam in October Sky (1999), and a psychologically-troubled teenager in Donnie Darko (2001). After appearing in several comedies, he starred in the science fiction disaster film, The Day After Tomorrow (2004), which was a box-office success. Gyllenhaal played Jack Twist in Ang Lee's romance Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination, and won him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. That same year, he starred in the dramas Jarhead and Proof. He played the true-crime author Robert Graysmith in the 2007 mystery film Zodiac, which explores the story about the serial killer Zodiac. In 2010, he portrayed Prince Dastan in the fantasy adventure Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which gained mixed reviews but was a box office success. Returning to the romantic-comedy genre, he was cast in Love & Other Drugs in 2010. Gyllenhaal continued to gain recognition from several acclaimed thrillers including Source Code (2011), End of Watch (2012), and Prisoners (2013). He then produced and starred in the thriller Nightcrawler (2014), which earned him a Best Actor nomination at the Golden Globes and British Academy Film Awards. In 2016, he starred in the psychological film Nocturnal Animals, followed by a biographical drama, Stronger (2017), which is based Jeff Bauman's memoir. In 2019, Gyllenhaal starred in the Netflix film Velvet Buzzsaw, and then played the Marvel Comics character Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home, set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gyllenhaal has also done stage work; he made his debut in 2002 at the Garrick Theatre in London. In 2014, he debuted on Broadway in Payne's Constellations at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. In addition to acting, he has been outspoken about political and social issues.