Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal was born on December 19, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, as Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal. He is the son of producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner and director Stephen Gyllenhaal, and the younger brother of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent through his mother, and Swedish, English, and German descent through his father. He made his film debut at age 11 in *City Slickers* (1991). From the late 1990s through the early 2000s, he appeared in *October Sky* (1999) and *Donnie Darko* (2001), for which he received a Best Actor nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. He followed with roles in *Bubble Boy* (2001), *The Good Girl* (2002), *Moonlight Mile* (2002), and *The Day After Tomorrow* (2004). He made his stage debut in a revival of *This Is Our Youth* in London, which played for eight weeks on the West End and was well received. He then appeared in *Jarhead* (2005) and *Proof* (2005). However, it was his performance in *Brokeback Mountain* (2005) that earned him widespread critical acclaim. For his role, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was also nominated for the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role at the SAG Awards, the Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture at the Satellite Awards, and the Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. He later starred in *Zodiac* (2007), *Brothers* (2009), *Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time* (2010), and *Love & Other Drugs* (2010), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In the 2010s, he appeared in *Source Code* (2011), *End of Watch* (2012), *Prisoners* (2013), *Nightcrawler* (2014), *Southpaw* (2015), and *Demolition* (2015). For *Nightcrawler* (2014), he was nominated for the Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama at the Golden Globes, the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the SAG Awards, and the Best Actor in a Leading Role at the BAFTA Awards.