Peter Sarsgaard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peter Sarsgaard
Sarsgaard in 2019
Born	John Peter Sarsgaard (1971-03-07) March 7, 1971 (age 54) St. Clair County, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Washington University in St. Louis (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1995–present
Spouse(s)	Maggie Gyllenhaal ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2
Relatives	Jake Gyllenhaal (brother-in-law)

John Peter Sarsgaard (born March 7, 1971) is an American actor. He studied acting and became known for playing interesting and sometimes challenging roles in movies and TV shows.

He started his film career with Dead Man Walking (1995). He gained more attention for his roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) and The Center of the World (2001). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role as Charles Lane in Shattered Glass (2003). He also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for playing a character facing memory challenges in Memory (2023).

Sarsgaard has appeared in many films. These include Garden State (2004), Kinsey (2004), Jarhead (2005), Flightplan (2005), An Education (2009), Blue Jasmine (2013), Black Mass (2015), Jackie (2016), and The Lost Daughter (2021). He has also acted in big blockbuster movies like Knight and Day (2010), Green Lantern (2011), The Magnificent Seven (2016), and The Batman (2022).

On television, Sarsgaard is known for his roles in the crime series The Killing (2013). He also appeared in the limited series The Looming Tower (2018) and ...sick (2021). For ...sick, he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Sarsgaard made his Broadway debut in the play The Seagull (2008).

Early Life and Education

John Peter Sarsgaard was born on March 7, 1971. He was born at Scott Air Force Base in St. Clair County, Illinois. His mother was Judy Lea and his father was John Dale Sarsgaard. His father was an Air Force engineer. Later, his father worked for companies like Monsanto and IBM. His family name, Sarsgaard, comes from Denmark. His great-great-grandparents on his father's side were born there.

Sarsgaard grew up in a Catholic family. He served as an altar boy in church. His family moved more than 12 times when he was a child. This was because of his father's job. When he was 7, Sarsgaard wanted to be a soccer player. He even took ballet lessons to help him move better. After getting injured while playing soccer, he stopped the sport. He then became interested in writing and theater. He went to Fairfield College Preparatory School. This was a private school for boys in Connecticut. There, he became very interested in films.

After finishing high school in 1989, he went to Bard College in New York for two years. In 1991, he moved to Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). At WashU, he helped start a comedy group called "Mama's Pot Roast." This group made up their performances on the spot. While at WashU, Sarsgaard also started acting in plays. These plays were part of a famous acting school in New York called the Actors Studio. His first role was as a servant named Laurent in a play called Tartuffe. In 1993, he earned a bachelor's degree in history. After graduating, he moved to New York City.

Career Highlights

Early Acting Roles (1995–1998)

Sarsgaard started his acting career with guest roles on TV shows. He appeared in Law & Order in 1995 and New York Undercover in 1997. He also had a role in the 1997 TV special Subway Stories. His first movie role was in Dead Man Walking (1995).

In 1995, Sarsgaard also started acting on stage in New York. He performed in an Off-Broadway play called Laura Dennis. Critics praised his performance. One reviewer said he was "an actor to watch." The next year, he starred in another play called Kingdom of Earth. His acting in this play also received good reviews.

He then appeared in several independent films. These included Another Day in Paradise (1997) and Desert Blue (1998). In 1998, he got a bigger role in the movie The Man in the Iron Mask. He played Raoul, the son of a Musketeer. The movie was a success at the box office, earning $182 million around the world.

Growing Recognition (1999–2002)

In 1999, Sarsgaard gained more attention for his role in Boys Don't Cry. He played a character named John Lotter. The film was based on a true story. Critics praised his performance. One newspaper said he made the character believable. Another reviewer called his performance "marvelous." Sarsgaard said he wanted his character to be charismatic. This way, the audience would understand why others would spend time with him.

His first main role was in the 2001 movie The Center of the World. He played Richard Longman, a young businessman. The film received mixed reviews. However, critics noted that Sarsgaard's acting made his character seem like a "genuinely nice guy."

In 2002, Sarsgaard appeared in three films. He was in K-19: The Widowmaker, playing a young Russian navy lieutenant. He also had a supporting role in the crime thriller Empire. His third film that year was The Salton Sea. In October 2002, Sarsgaard returned to the theater. He performed in a New York play called Burn This.

Continued Success (2003–Present)

A big moment in Sarsgaard's career came in 2003. He starred in the movie Shattered Glass. He played journalist Charles Lane. The movie was based on the true story of a journalist who made up his stories. Sarsgaard said he wanted to respect the real person he was playing. Critics praised his performance. One newspaper said he played Lane with "great subtlety and grace." His role earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. He also received an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

After Shattered Glass, Sarsgaard took on more roles. In 2004, he was in the comedy-drama Garden State. He played Mark, the sarcastic best friend. That same year, he played Clyde Martin in Kinsey. This movie was about the life of Alfred Kinsey. A reviewer from CNN said Sarsgaard's performance "stands out."

In 2005, Sarsgaard starred in the drama The Dying Gaul. He played Robert Sandrich, a screenwriter. He also had supporting roles in two thriller films that year. These were The Skeleton Key and Flightplan. In Flightplan, he played an air marshal. This movie was a big financial success. Sarsgaard's next film was Jarhead (2005). He starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie was based on a book about the Gulf War.

Sarsgaard hosted the TV show Saturday Night Live in January 2006. He joked about his serious roles. In 2007, he had supporting roles in Year of the Dog and Rendition. In Year of the Dog, he played a dog trainer. In Rendition, he starred with Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon. In 2008, Sarsgaard starred in the drama Elegy.

In 2008, Sarsgaard made his Broadway debut in the play The Seagull. He played Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin. In 2009, he starred in The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. He also appeared in the thriller Orphan. In this movie, he and Vera Farmiga played a couple who adopt a girl. Also in 2009, Sarsgaard played David in the film An Education. For this role, he used a British accent. Critics praised his performance in An Education.

Sarsgaard played a doctor in the 2009 off-Broadway play Uncle Vanya. His wife, Maggie Gyllenhaal, was also in the cast. He then played a federal agent in the action comedy film Knight and Day (2010). He appeared with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. In 2011, Sarsgaard played the villain Hector Hammond in the superhero film Green Lantern. He had a supporting role in Woody Allen's drama Blue Jasmine (2013). Sarsgaard also appeared in the TV series The Killing (2013). He played a man on death row. He said this was some of his best acting. In 2015, Sarsgaard played the main role in a stage production of Hamlet. He played Robert F. Kennedy in the film Jackie (2016).

Sarsgaard then played Martin Schmidt in the TV series The Looming Tower (2018). He received a nomination for this role. He returned to TV in another series, ...sick (2021). He played Rick Mountcastle and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Sarsgaard appeared in The Lost Daughter (2021). This movie was directed by his wife, Maggie Gyllenhaal. The next year, he played Gil Colson in The Batman (2022). In 2023, he starred in the film Memory. He played a character with memory challenges. For this role, he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.

Personal Life

Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal at the New York premiere of An Education in October 2009

In an interview, Sarsgaard said he grew up in a Catholic family. He said that his religious background helped him as an actor. He believes it taught him to be curious about all kinds of people, whether they are good or bad.

Sarsgaard has had notable relationships. He dated burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese and model Shalom Harlow. Early in his career, he dated photographer Malerie Marder.

Sarsgaard started dating actress Maggie Gyllenhaal in 2002. Maggie is the sister of his close friend, Jake Gyllenhaal. In April 2006, they announced they were engaged. They got married on May 2, 2009, in a small ceremony in Italy. They have two daughters. Their first daughter was born in October 2006, and their second in April 2012.

Sarsgaard is vegan. This means he does not eat meat or animal products. However, he cooks meat for his children.

In June 2013, Sarsgaard and other famous people appeared in a video. The video showed support for Chelsea Manning.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Dead Man Walking	Walter Delacroix
1998	The Man in the Iron Mask	Raoul
	Minor Details	Scott
	Desert Blue	Billy Baxter
	Another Day in Paradise	Ty
1999	Boys Don't Cry	John Lotter
2000	The Cell	John Tracy	Uncredited
	Housebound	Tom
2001	The Center of the World	Richard Longman
	Bacon Wagon	Cowboy Zombie Victim	Short film
2002	Empire	Jack
	The Salton Sea	Jimmy the Finn
	K-19: The Widowmaker	LT Vadim Radchenko
	Unconditional Love	Window Washer
2003	Death of a Dynasty	Brendon III
	Shattered Glass	Charles "Chuck" Lane
2004	Garden State	Mark
	Kinsey	Clyde Martin
2005	The Dying Gaul	Robert Sandrich
	The Skeleton Key	Luke Marshall
	Flightplan	Gene Carson
	Jarhead	Cpl. Alan Troy
2007	Year of the Dog	Newt
	Rendition	Alan Smith
2008	Elegy	Kenneth Kepesh
	The Mysteries of Pittsburgh	Cleveland Arning
2009	An Education	David Goldman
	In the Electric Mist	Elrod Sykes
	Orphan	John Coleman
2010	Knight and Day	John Fitzgerald
2011	Green Lantern	Dr. Hector Hammond
2012	Robot & Frank	Robot (voice)
2013	Lovelace	Chuck Traynor
	Very Good Girls	Fitzsimmons
	Night Moves	Harmon
	Blue Jasmine	Dwight Westlake
2014	Pawn Sacrifice	William Lombardy
2015	Experimenter	Stanley Milgram
	Black Mass	Brian Halloran
2016	Jackie	Robert F. Kennedy
	The Magnificent Seven	Bartholomew Bogue
2017	Loving Pablo	Shepard
2018	The Lie	Jay Logan
2019	The Sound of Silence	Peter Lucian
	Mr Jones	Walter Duranty
	Human Capital	Quint Manning
2020	Best Summer Ever	Camera Man	Also executive producer
2021	The Lost Daughter	Professor Hardy
	The Guilty	Henry Fisher (voice)
	The Survivor	Emory Anderson
2022	The Batman	Gil Colson
2023	Pet Shop Days	TBA
	Memory	Saul
	Coup!	Floyd Monk
2024	September 5	Roone Arledge
2026	The Bride!	TBA	Filming

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Law & Order	Josh Strand	Episode: "Paranoia"
1997	New York Undercover	Donald Jones	Episode: "School's Out"
1997	Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground	Boy #1	Television movie
1999	Freak City	Cal Jackson	Television movie
1999	Cracker	Spencer Trent	Episode: "The Club"
2005	Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony	Himself (cameo)	Web series
2006	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Peter Sarsgaard/The Strokes"
2010	Saturday Night Live	Boogerman	Episode: "Amy Poehler/Katy Perry"
2013	The Killing	Ray Seward	10 episodes
2015	The Slap	Hector Apostolou	Miniseries; 8 episodes
2017	Wormwood	Frank Olson	Miniseries; 6 episodes
2018	The Looming Tower	Martin Schmidt	Miniseries; 10 episodes
2020	Interrogation	Det. David Russell	10 episodes
2020	Homemade	Frank	Episode: "Penelope"
2021	...sick	Rick Mountcastle	Miniseries
2024	Presumed Innocent	Tommy Molto	Miniseries
TBA	Neuromancer	John Ashpool	Upcoming series

Theatre

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Peter Sarsgaard para niños