His parents did not allow him to appear in The Mighty Ducks (1992) because it would have required him to leave home for two months. He made his acting debut as Billy Crystal's son in the 1991 comedy City Slickers. Īs a child, Gyllenhaal was regularly exposed to filmmaking due to his family's ties to the industry. On his 13th birthday, Gyllenhaal performed a " Bar Mitzvah-like act, without the typical trappings", volunteering at a homeless shelter because his parents wanted to give him a sense of gratitude for his privileged lifestyle. Gyllenhaal has said that he considers himself Jewish.
Gyllenhaal's mother is Jewish, and was born in New York City to an Ashkenazi Jewish family from Russia and Poland. His last ancestor to be born in Sweden was his great-great-grandfather, Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal's father, who was raised as a Swedenborgian, is of Swedish and English descent and is a descendant of the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, his older sister, appeared with him in the film Donnie Darko. Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal was born on December 19, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, to film producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner (née Achs) and film director Stephen Gyllenhaal. Aside from acting, he is vocal about political and social issues.Ĭoat of arms of the noble house Gyllenhaal Gyllenhaal has performed on stage, starring in a West End production of the play This Is Our Youth and Broadway productions of the musical Sunday in the Park with George as well as the plays Constellations and Sea Wall/A Life, the lattermost of which earned him a Tony Award nomination. His highest-grossing release came with the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), in which he portrayed Quentin Beck / Mysterio. Further acclaim came with his roles in Denis Villeneuve's thrillers Prisoners (2013) and Enemy (2013), and he received nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performances as a manipulative journalist in Nightcrawler (2014) and a troubled writer in Nocturnal Animals (2016).
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His career progressed with starring roles in the thriller Zodiac (2007), the romantic comedy Love & Other Drugs (2010), and the science fiction film Source Code (2011).
He played Jack Twist in Ang Lee's 2005 romantic drama Brokeback Mountain, for which Gyllenhaal won a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. Gyllenhaal starred in the 2004 science fiction disaster film The Day After Tomorrow. His breakthrough roles were as Homer Hickam in October Sky (1999) and as a psychologically troubled teenager in Donnie Darko (2001). He began acting as a child, making his acting debut in City Slickers (1991), followed by roles in his father's films A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Homegrown (1998). Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal ( / ˈ dʒ ɪ l ə n h ɔː l/ Swedish: born December 19, 1980) is an American actor.