Jake Gyllenhaal facts for kids

Jake Gyllenhaal
Gyllenhaal at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France
Born	Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal December 19, 1980 (1980-12-19) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Harvard-Westlake School
Alma mater	Columbia University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present
Parent(s)	Stephen Gyllenhaal Naomi Foner
Relatives	See Gyllenhaal family

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal born December 19, 1980 is an American actor. A member of the Gyllenhaal family and the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting as a child of 11 with a screen debut in City Slickers (1991).

Early life

Gyllenhaal was born in Los Angeles, California. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, his older sister, appeared with him in the film Donnie Darko. Gyllenhaal's father, is of Swedish and English descent, and is a descendant of the Swedish noble Gyllenhaal family. Jake's mother is Jewish, and was born in New York City.

Gyllenhaal has said that he considers himself Jewish. On his 13th birthday he volunteered at a homeless shelter because his parents wanted to give him a sense of gratitude for his privileged lifestyle. His parents insisted that he have summer jobs to support himself and he thus worked as a lifeguard and as a busboy at a restaurant operated by a family friend. Gyllenhaal said his parents encouraged artistic expression: "I do have parents who constantly supported me in certain ways. Definitely, it's in expression and creativity where my family has always been best at."

Career

As a child, Gyllenhaal was regularly exposed to filmmaking due to his family's deep ties to the industry. 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 to leave home for two months. 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".

Politics and other interests

Gyllenhaal is politically active. He shot a commercial for Rock the Vote and, along with his sister, visited the University of Southern California to encourage students to vote during the 2004 U.S. election. He also campaigned for Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry.

Raised in a family concerned with social issues, in 2003 Gyllenhaal participated in an advertising campaign by the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization his entire family strongly supports. Environmentally conscious, he recycles regularly, and said in an interview that he spends $400 a year to have trees planted in a Mozambique forest, partly to promote the Future Forests program.

Gyllenhaal is the Honorary Chair of the New Eyes for the Needy Advisory Board, and has signed on to help the TV fundraiser Stand Up to Cancer. Gyllenhaal is on the board of directors for the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and volunteered in California juvenile detention centers with Scott Budnick.

In his spare time, Gyllenhaal enjoys woodworking and cooking. When asked about being a Buddhist, he has said, "I am not a card-carrying Buddhist, but I do try to practice mindfulness" and that it is his goal to meditate every day.

Filmography

Title	Year	Role(s)	Director(s)	Budget	Box office	Ref.
				USD
City Slickers	1991	Robbins Daniel Robbins	Underwood, Ron Ron Underwood	0.26,000,000	0.179,033,791
Josh and S.A.M.	1993	Coleman Leon Coleman	Weber, Billy Billy Weber	0.18,000,000	0.1,640,220
Dangerous Woman, A A Dangerous Woman	1993	Edward	Gyllenhaal, Stephen Stephen Gyllenhaal	0 Unknown	0.1,497,222
Homegrown	1998	Jake / Blue Kahan	Gyllenhaal, Stephen Stephen Gyllenhaal	0 Unknown	0.77,910
October Sky	1999	Hickam Homer Hickam	Johnston, Joe Joe Johnston	0.25,000,000	0.34,675,800
Donnie Darko	2001	Darko Donnie Darko	Kelly, Richard Richard Kelly	0.3,800,000	0.3,840,839
Bubble Boy	2001	Livingston Jimmy Livingston	Hayes, Blair Blair Hayes	0.13,000,000	0.5,007,898
Lovely and Amazing	2001	Jordan	Holofcener, Nicole Nicole Holofcener	0.250,000	0.4,677,852
Highway	2002	Pilot Kelson	Cox, James James Cox	0.14,000,000	N/A
Good Girl, The The Good Girl	2002	Worther Thomas "Holden" Worther	Arteta, Miguel Miguel Arteta	0.8,000,000	0.16,856,124
Moonlight Mile	2002	Nast Joe Nast	Silberling, Brad Brad Silberling	0.21,000,000	0.10,011,050
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood	2004	Himself	Jean, Vadim Vadim Jean	0 Unknown	0.36,039
Day After Tomorrow, The The Day After Tomorrow	2004	Hall Sam Hall	Emmerich, Roland Roland Emmerich	0.125,000,000	0.544,272,402
Man Who Walked Between the Towers, The The Man Who Walked Between the Towers	2005	Narrator	Sporn, Michael Michael Sporn	0 Unknown	N/A
Brokeback Mountain	2005	Twist Jack Twist	Lee, Ang Ang Lee	0.14,000,000	0.178,062,759
Proof	2005	Harold "Hal" Dobbs	Madden, John John Madden	0.20,000,000	0.14,189,860
Jarhead	2005	Swofford Anthony "Swoff" Swofford	Mendes, Sam Sam Mendes	0.72,000,000	0.96,889,998
Zodiac	2007	Graysmith Robert Graysmith	Fincher, David David Fincher	0.65,000,000	0.84,785,914
Rendition	2007	Freeman Douglas Freeman	Hood, Gavin Gavin Hood	0.27,500,000	0.27,038,732
Brothers	2009	Cahill Tommy Cahill	Sheridan, Jim Jim Sheridan	0.26,000,000	0.43,318,349
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time	2010	Dastan	Newell, Mike Mike Newell	0.200,000,000	0.336,365,676
Love & Other Drugs	2010	Randall Jamie Randall	Zwick, Edward Edward Zwick	0.30,000,000	0.102,820,008
Source Code	2011	Stevens Colter Stevens	Jones, Duncan Duncan Jones	0.32,000,000	0.147,332,697
End of Watch	2012	Taylor Officer Taylor	Ayer, David David Ayer	0.7,000,000	0.48,126,384
Prisoners	2013	Loki Detective Loki	Villeneuve, Denis Denis Villeneuve	0.46,000,000	0.122,126,687
Enemy	2013	Bell Adam Bell / Anthony Clair	Villeneuve, Denis Denis Villeneuve	0 Unknown	0.3,396,726
Nightcrawler	2014	Bloom Louis "Lou" Bloom	Gilroy, Dan Dan Gilroy	0.8,000,000	0.38,697,217
Accidental Love	2015	Birdwell Howard Birdwell	Russell, David O. David O. Russell	0.26,000,000	0.135,436
Southpaw	2015	Hope Billy Hope	Fuqua, Antione Antoine Fuqua	0.30,000,000	0.91,970,827
Everest	2015	Fischer Scott Fischer	Kormákur, Baltasar Baltasar Kormákur	0.55,000,000	0.203,427,584
Demolition	2015	0 Davis Mitchell	Jean-Marc Vallée	0.10,000,000	0.3,304,834
Nocturnal Animals	2016	0 Edward Sheffield / Tony Hastings	Tom Ford	0.20,000,000	0.29,252,978
Life	2017	Dr. David Jordan	Daniel Espinosa	0.58,000,000	0.100,541,806
Okja	2017	Dr. Johnny Wilcox	Bong Joon-ho	0.50,000,000	N/A
Stronger	2017	0 Jeff Bauman	David Gordon Green	0.30,000,000	0.5,800,158
Wildlife	2018	Jerry Brinson	Paul Dano
The Sisters Brothers	2018	Hermann Kermit Warm	Jacques Audiard
Velvet Buzzsaw	2018		Dan Gilroy

Images for kids

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  Jake Gyllenhaal at Cannes 2015

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  Jake Gyllenhaal at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival 2012

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  Jake Gyllenhaal at Proof opening

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  Gyllenhaal at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival