Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal born December 19, 1980 is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten. He has appeared in diverse roles since his first lead role in 1999's October Sky, followed by the 2001 indie cult hit Donnie Darko, in which he played a psychologically troubled teen and onscreen brother to his real-life sister, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. In the 2004 science-fiction film The Day After Tomorrow he portrayed a student caught in a cataclysmic global cooling event, alongside Dennis Quaid as his father. He then played against type as a frustrated Marine in Jarhead (2005). The same year, he garnered critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination as Jack Twist in the film Brokeback Mountain opposite Heath Ledger.
Gyllenhaal has promoted various political and social causes. He appeared in Rock the Vote advertising, campaigned for the Democratic Party in the 2004 election, promoted environmental causes, and campaigned on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
During childhood, Gyllenhaal had regular exposure to filmmaking due to his family's deep ties to the industry. As an 11-year-old he made his acting debut as Billy Crystal's son in the 1991 comedy film City Slickers. His parents did not allow him to appear in the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks because it would have required him leaving home for two months. In subsequent years, his parents allowed him to audition for parts, but regularly forbade him to take them if he were chosen.[7] He was allowed to appear in his father's films several times. Gyllenhaal appeared in the 1993 film A Dangerous Woman (along with sister Maggie); in "Bop Gun" a 1994 episode of Homicide: Life on the Street; and in the 1998 comedy Homegrown. Along with their mother, Jake and Maggie appeared in two episodes of Molto Mario, an Italian cooking show on the Food Network. Prior to his senior year in high school, the only other film not directed by his father in which Gyllenhaal was allowed to perform was the 1993 film Josh and S.A.M., a little-known children's adventure.
Gyllenhaal graduated from the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles in 1998, then attended Columbia University, where his sister was a senior and from which his mother had graduated, to study Eastern religions and philosophy. Gyllenhaal dropped out after two years to concentrate on acting, but has expressed intentions to eventually finish his degree. Gyllenhaal's first lead role was in October Sky, Joe Johnston's 1999 adaptation of the Homer Hickam autobiography Rocket Boys, in which he portrayed a young man from West Virginia striving to win a science scholarship to avoid becoming a coal miner. The film earned $32 million and was described in the Sacramento News and Review as Gyllenhaal's "breakout performance."
Filmography:
Love and Other Drugs (2010)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Brothers (2009)
Nailed (2009)
Rendition (2007)
Rendition (2007)
Zodiac (2007)
Jarhead (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Proof (2005)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Moonlight Mile (2002)
The Good Girl (2002)
Lovely & Amazing (2002)
Highway (2001)
Bubble Boy (2001)
Donnie Darko (2001)
October Sky (1999)
Homegrown (1998)
Josh and S.A.M. (1993)
The Dangerous Woman (1993)
City Slickers (1991)
