Maggie Gyllenhaal: 3 must-see films starring the actress

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

American actress Maggie Gyllenhaal began appearing on screens back in the 90s. But she did not gain such fame as her brother - Jake Gyllenhaal. And yet in the filmography of the actress there are several worthy works. So what are the must-see movies featuring Maggie?

Maggie Gyllenhaal: photos, early years

Maggie and her star brother Jake were born in New York. Their father, a Swede by origin, was a director, and his name was Steve. Maggie and Jake's mother worked as a screenwriter. By the way, the woman was of Russian origin, although she bore the European name Naomi Foner.

Maggie Gyllenhaal originally chose the profession of a philologist and studied English literature at Columbia University. Then the girl became interested in amateur theater and dramatically changed her whole future fate, going to get an acting education at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Maggie got her first role in 1992 in the film "Water Country". In 1993, she was entrusted with a supporting role in the melodrama Dangerouswoman". Then there was the comedy "Homegrown", the films "Crazy Cecil B." and "Photographer". And in 2001. the girl first made her name recognizable by starring in the film "Donnie Darko".

Maggie Gyllenhaal: filmography. "Donnie Darko"

Drama "Donnie Darko" was filmed by Richard Kelly in 2001. The role of the protagonist's sister went to Maggie Gyllenhaal. Maggie's brother Jake played the central character in the film.

Richard Kelly's film is about a teenager named Donnie Darko who suffers from a rare mental illness. In addition to the fact that Donnie walks in his sleep, he also sees hallucinations: the guy seems to think that a huge rabbit is talking to him. And everything would be fine, but the rabbit tells Darko information, which then comes true. For example, one day he lures a guy out of his room at night, and in the morning it turns out that Donnie's room was blown to smithereens by a plane engine that fell out of nowhere.

From now on, Donnie believes his every word. But here's the bad luck: Frank the Rabbit reports that the apocalypse will break out in a month. What to do now?

The film was criticized by journalists, but the audience loved this picture. The film is rated eight out of ten on IMDb.

Adaptation

Maggie Gyllenhaal starred a year later in another cult film - this time it's Spike Jones' art-house film "Adaptation". Gyllenhaal's partners on the set were celebrities such as Nicolas Cage, Oscar-winning Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper.

The film is about several characters at once, whose destinies are intertwined. But the main character is still Charlie Kaufman performed by Cage. Charlie is a real character, a famous screenwriter who gained worldwide fame after the release of the film “Being John Malkovich”. Columbia Pictures entrusts Kaufman, who works for them, with the task of adapting a book by a certain journalist for a film adaptation. But just at that moment, Charlie is suffering from depression and cannot finish the job, and his twin brother Donald is taken to help him. What will come of this, the viewer will know only in the final picture.

Maggie in this film received a supporting role - a certain Caroline Cunningham. The picture delighted critics and won 39 awards at various festivals and competitions.

The Dark Knight

2008 was a very successful year for Maggie Gyllenhaal, because the actress got the lead role in Christopher Nolan's high-profile project The Dark Knight. This film became the second in the track record of the director, dedicated to the comic story of a superhero in a dark mask and cloak. According to many viewers and critics, Nolan's adaptations are the best in the history of filming Batman films.

In the second part, a fierce struggle unfolds on the screens between Harvey Dent, the Joker and Batman. But, in addition to the action line, there is also a romantic story in the picture. A love triangle develops between entrepreneur Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent and Maggie's Rachel Dawes.

Bruce has known Rachel since childhood andquite a long time in love with her. But because of his mission as Gotham's guardian, he cannot propose to a girl and arrange his personal life. Tired of waiting for Wayne, Rachel eventually turned into the bride of her boss, Harvey Dent. In the final picture, the heroine Gyllenhaal tragically dies at the hands of the villain Joker.

After The Dark Knight, the actress starred in many more films: Storming the White House, No Hysteria, Frank, etc. But none of these works became as famous as the above pictures.