Gyllenhaal (pronounced "jill-en-hall") was born into cinema: her father, Stephen, is a director and her mother, Naomi Foner, a scriptwriter. Her first role, at 14, was in Waterland; she has since appeared in Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and, with her brother, Jake, in Donnie Darko. But it was
as a PA with a penchant for handcuffs in Secretary that she made her name. Her latest role is opposite Julia Roberts in Mona Lisa Smile. Now 26, she is dating actor Peter Sarsgaard and lives in New York.
Was it intimidating to be working with a big movie star like Julia Roberts?
I was probably less intimidated than I should have been. I mean, I sort of just felt excited to meet her. I was very curious about acting with her.
Did you learn much from her?
She's very powerful and when you get to a place where you have that much power, it allows you a kind of grace and ease. I'm not in that position, I don't have that kind of power or that kind of grace and ease yet, so watching her was definitely inspiring.
Would you like to have that kind of power?
Sure. But if you make choices as an artist that inspire you, and do things you think are important, then even if your level of fame wanes, you continue growing as an artist.
You've made a lot of brave choices with your roles. Do you feel brave?
Yeah, but I don't really think "This is a brave one, let's take this on!" I don't know if that's the right way to make choices.
But you still do things a lot of actresses are scared to do, like the provocative Secretary.
True, those movies excite me. There is a need, especially right now in America, to be a bit provocative. The options for any kind of alternative opinion are being shut down. My instinctive response is to want to do it more.
Movies portray women unrealistically, and I just like to do films that are a more honest version of women. I think that because we're not used to seeing it, it looks like a brave thing to do, but actually I think it's simply honest.
What was it like watching yourself naked in Secretary?
I was so uncomfortable with it that for the first four or five viewings, I was like: "Yeah, whatever, whatever, I'm naked, who cares. I mean, it doesn't bother me, does it bother you?"
And then, when I watched it recently again, I realised that I must have been so super uncomfortable before that I couldn't even acknowledge it.
Were these the most challenging scenes you've shot so far in a film?
Without a doubt. James [Spader] was like my ally. I mean, I remember when we were shooting the spanking scene, being really overwhelmed because I was really present in the world of what was happening, and I felt like I was going to cry.
James came over, put his hand on my shoulder, and said: "Are you okay?"
It was then I just burst into tears in the way that you would if finally you knew that you could now relax.
Do you think women can happily have both a career and a family?
I think it's almost a regressive question. The fact that it would be an issue now surprises me. My mother was a screenwriter and my grandmother was a doctor.
So, I come from a privileged place in terms of that way of thinking, but because of that I feel like it's my responsibility to push the envelope.
Your brother, Jake, is an actor, too - are you your own worst critics?
Our harshest critics, yeah. I think we know each other so well, and in such a particular way, since we were tiny, that we can see in ways that almost no one else can see.
Would you make another film with Jake?
I would like to, but I would like to wait until I feel a little more solidly on my own ground before working with anybody in my family.
- INDEPENDENT
* Mona Lisa Smile is at cinemas now; Secretary is out on video and DVD.
Gyllenhaal (pronounced "jill-en-hall") was born into cinema: her father, Stephen, is a director and her mother, Naomi Foner, a scriptwriter. Her first role, at 14, was in Waterland; she has since appeared in Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and, with her brother, Jake, in Donnie Darko. But it was
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