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 learned acting at the Actors Studio. He became well-known for playing different kinds of characters, sometimes even villains, in movies and TV shows.

He started his film career in Dead Man Walking (1995). He became more recognized for his roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), Boys Don't Cry (1999), and The Center of the World (2001). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in Shattered Glass (2003). He also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his part in Memory (2023).

Sarsgaard has acted in many films. Some of these include Garden State (2004), Kinsey (2004), Jarhead (2005), Flightplan (2005), An Education (2009), and The Lost Daughter (2021). He is also known for big movies like Knight and Day (2010), Green Lantern (2011), and The Batman (2022).

He has also appeared in TV shows such as The Killing (2013) and The Looming Tower (2018). Sarsgaard made his first appearance on Broadway in the play The Seagull (2008). He is married to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Early Life and Learning

John Peter Sarsgaard was born on March 7, 1971, in St. Clair County, Illinois. His parents are Judy Lea and John Dale Sarsgaard. His father was an Air Force engineer. Later, his father worked for companies like Monsanto and IBM. His family name comes from Denmark.

Sarsgaard was raised Catholic and was an altar boy. His family moved many times when he was a child 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 several head injuries from soccer, he stopped playing. He then became interested in writing and theater. He went to Fairfield College Preparatory School in Connecticut. There, he became very interested in movies.

After high school in 1989, he went to Bard College for two years. Then, in 1991, he moved to Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL). At WUSTL, he helped start a comedy group called "Mama's Pot Roast." He also began acting in plays. His first play was Tartuffe. In 1993, he earned a degree in history and moved to New York.

Acting Career Highlights

Starting Out in Acting: 1995-1998

Sarsgaard started acting in TV shows filmed in New York City. He appeared in Law & Order in 1995 and New York Undercover in 1997. He also had a role in the 1997 HBO special Subway Stories. His first movie role was in Dead Man Walking (1995).

In 1995, Sarsgaard acted in his first play called Laura Dennis. Critics praised his performance. The next year, he starred in Kingdom of Earth.

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

Becoming Known Worldwide: 1999-2002

In 1999, Sarsgaard earned praise for his role as John Lotter in Boys Don't Cry. This movie was very well-received by critics.

His first main role was in the 2001 movie The Center of the World.

In 2002, Sarsgaard was in three movies: K-19: The Widowmaker, Empire, and The Salton Sea. In K-19: The Widowmaker, he played a young Russian navy officer. This movie cost a lot to make but did not earn much money. He also played a supporting role in the crime thriller Empire. Sarsgaard also acted in The Salton Sea. In October 2002, Sarsgaard returned to the theater in a play called Burn This.

Continuing Success in Film: 2003-Present

A big moment in Sarsgaard's career was in 2003 when he starred in Shattered Glass. He played journalist Charles Lane. The movie is based on the true story of journalist Stephen Glass, who made up many of his news stories. Sarsgaard's acting in this film earned him his first Golden Globe Award nomination.

After Shattered Glass, Sarsgaard took on many roles. In 2004, he was in the comedy-drama Garden State. He played Mark, the sarcastic best friend. In the same year, he played Clyde Martin in Kinsey. This movie was about the life of Alfred Kinsey. Critics said Sarsgaard was one of the best actors of his time.

In 2005, Sarsgaard starred in The Dying Gaul. He played Robert Sandrich, a writer. He also had roles in the thrillers The Skeleton Key and Flightplan. In Flightplan, he played an air marshal. This movie was a big financial success, earning $223 million worldwide. Sarsgaard's next movie was Jarhead (2005), where he acted alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.

Sarsgaard hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) on January 21, 2006. He joked about his serious roles.

Sarsgaard at the European premiere of The Dark Knight in 2008

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 acted with Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon. In 2008, Sarsgaard starred in the drama Elegy.

In 2008, Sarsgaard made his Broadway debut in The Seagull. He played Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin.

In 2009, Sarsgaard starred in The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. He played Cleveland. His next movie was the thriller Orphan. He and Vera Farmiga played a couple who adopt a girl who is not as innocent as she seems. Also in 2009, Sarsgaard starred as David in An Education. He had to use a British accent for this role.

Sarsgaard with the cast of Green Lantern at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.

Sarsgaard played a doctor in the 2009 play Uncle Vanya in New York City. His wife, Maggie Gyllenhaal, was also in the play.

Sarsgaard played a federal agent in the action comedy film Knight and Day, released in 2010. He acted with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. In 2011, Sarsgaard was cast as the villain Hector Hammond in the superhero film Green Lantern. He played a supporting role in Woody Allen's drama Blue Jasmine (2013). Sarsgaard also appeared in the TV series The Killing (2013). He played Robert F. Kennedy in Jackie (2016).

Sarsgaard played Martin Schmidt in the TV series The Looming Tower (2018). He was nominated for an award for this role. Sarsgaard appeared in The Lost Daughter (2021), which was directed by his wife, Maggie Gyllenhaal. The next year, he played Gil Colson in The Batman (2022). In 2023, he starred in Memory. For his performance, he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.

Personal Life and Family

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

Sarsgaard has said that his Catholic upbringing helped him as an actor. He believes it taught him to be curious about all kinds of people, good or bad.

Sarsgaard started dating actress Maggie Gyllenhaal in 2002. She is the sister of his close friend, Jake Gyllenhaal. In April 2006, they announced they were engaged. On May 2, 2009, they got married in Italy. They have two daughters, born in October 2006 and 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 to support 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
2025	The Bride!	TBA	Filming

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Theatre

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Peter Sarsgaard para niños