Throughout 2007, there was persistent speculation in the mass media about a romantic relationship between Witherspoon and her Rendition co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.

Gyllenhaal is a politically active Democrat and, like her brother and parents, supports the American Civil Liberties Union.

Jake Gyllenhaal, her younger brother, is also an actor.

Her last purely Swedish ancestor was her great-grandfather, a descendant of Leonard Gyllenhaal, a leading Swedenborgian who supported the printing and spreading of Swedenborg's writings.

Gyllenhaal later achieved recognition in her own right playing her real brother's on-screen sister in the indie cult hit Donnie Darko ( 2001 ).

New York Times critic Stephen Holden noted: " The role of Lee, which Maggie Gyllenhaal imbues with a restrained comic delicacy and sweetness, should make her a star.

Although insisting Shainberg did not exploit her, Gyllenhaal has said she felt " scared when filming began " and that " in the wrong hands ... even in just slightly less intelligent hands, this movie could say something really weird.

Gyllenhaal plays an honest hotel manager forced to help her crooked brother ( Reilly ) by seducing one of his victims.

In 2004 Gyllenhaal returned to theater in a Los Angeles production of Tony Kushner's Homebody / Kabul as Priscilla, the Homebody's daughter, who spends most of the play searching for her elusive mother in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Her performance in the film received favorable reviews ; Mike Straka of Fox News wrote: " Gyllenhaal has never been sexier in any film before and her interplay with Ferrell will propel her to more A-list films, leaving her indie-darling days behind, no doubt.

In Sherrybaby, Gyllenhaal played a young drug-addicted thief trying to put her life in order after prison so she can reconcile with her daughter.

" Her performance in the film was well received: David Germain of the Associated Press wrote, " Gyllenhaal humanizes her so deeply and richly ... that Sherry elicits sympathy even in her darkest and weakest moments ", and Dennis Harvey of Variety called her performance " naturalistic ".

For her work, Gyllenhaal earned her second Golden Globe Best Actress nomination and won the Best Actress category award at the 2006 Stockholm International Film Festival.

Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News was less than enthusiastic about her performance, writing: " Gyllenhaal, who was so dynamic as a druggie in the film Sherrybaby, plays Yelena with a slow-mo saunter and monotonous pasted-on smile that makes it seem as if she's been in Sherry's stash.

Gyllenhaal agreed to appear in the comedy film Away We Go, where she plays a bohemian college professor who is an old friend of John Krasinski's character.

In February 2011 Gyllenhaal starred in another Anton Chekhov production as the character Masha in Austin Pendleton's Three Sisters at the Classic Stage Company.

Stephen Dorff stars as the titular character and leader of the group, with Alicia Witt, Adrian Grenier, Mike Shannon, and Maggie Gyllenhaal co-starring as the rest of his gang of filmmakers.

She was part of an ensemble cast that included Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Julia Stiles.

Kelly was nominated for " Best First Feature " and " Best First Screenplay " with Donnie Darko, as well as Jake Gyllenhaal being nominated for " Best Male Lead ," at the Independent Spirit Awards.

* 2003 — Jake Gyllenhaal won " Best Actor " and Richard Kelly " Best Original Screenplay " for Donnie Darko at the Chlotrudis Awards, where Kelly was also nominated for " Best Director " and " Best Movie ".

A 2005 film adaptation was directed by John Madden starring Gwyneth Paltrow as Catherine, along with Anthony Hopkins, Hope Davis, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

* Jake Gyllenhaal as Danny Robbins ( Mitch's son ; this was Jake Gyllenhaal's film debut at age 10 )

Recent motion pictures in which the agency has been involved in include Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Robert Duvall, and directed by Scott Cooper ; Richard Eyre ’ s The Other Man, starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney ; Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, starring Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Williams, and Kim Cattrall ; James Toback's documentary Tyson, which was the official selection in Un Certain Regard at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and won a specially named " Knockout " prize ; Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won a special jury prize ; and The Women, directed by Diane English and starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Candice Bergen, and Bette Midler.

Gyllenhaal has appeared in an eclectic range of films, including the indie film Sherrybaby ( 2006 ), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe, the romantic comedy Trust the Man ( 2006 ), and big-budget films such as World Trade Center ( 2006 ) and The Dark Knight ( 2008 ).

Gyllenhaal was born in New York City to film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and film producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal ( née Achs ).

Her father, who was raised in the Swedenborgian religion, is of Swedish and English ancestry, and is a member of the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family.

Gyllenhaal was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2004.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone reported that Gyllenhaal was " funny, touching and vital as Jean " and that her part was " conventionally conceived, but Gyllenhaal plays it with a tough core of intelligence and feeling.

The option to make Campbell's book into a feature film was purchased in 2007 by producer / director Stephen Gyllenhaal ( See: Grassroots ( film )).

Gyllenhaal was born in Los Angeles, the son of film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and film producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner ( née Achs ).

Jake Gyllenhaal's mother is from a Jewish family from New York City, and Gyllenhaal has said that he considers himself " more Jewish than anything else.

* 1949 – Stephen Gyllenhaal, American director

Also including commentaries from director Kelly and actor Gyllenhaal, Kelly and Kevin Smith, and Cast and Crew including Drew Barrymore.

She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner ( née Achs ) and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at the age of ten.

Cooper was generally busy in 2005, appearing in three acclaimed films: Jarhead ( which reunited him with American Beauty director Sam Mendes and October Sky actor Jake Gyllenhaal );

* Stephen Gyllenhaal ( b. 1949 ), film director ( great grandson of Anders Leonard G .), was married to producer and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal.

Her second husband was film director Stephen Gyllenhaal, to whom she was married for 32 years and with whom she has collaborated professionally.

Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal (; born October 4, 1949 ) is an American film director and poet.

This confusion was mirrored in Nils ' ennoblement: In the Knighthood Letter, signed by Queen Christina, the family name was written in two different ways — first " Gyllenhahl " and then " Gyllenhaal ".

Scott concluded with, " Ms. Gyllenhaal ’ s line about sex roles in ' the seahorse community ' is the screenplay ’ s one clean satirical bull ’ s-eye ".

This is an Israeli – American co-production which combines various American actors, such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Christina Applegate, Greg Kinnear, Debra Messing and Cedric the Entertainer, and is geared at teaching Jewish-American children about the Secular Jewish culture.

Gyllenhaal is also in post-production on a documentary about dream interpretation titled Exquisite Continent.