Jake Gyllenhaal Biography

Name

Jake Gyllenhaal

Real Name

Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal

Date of Birth

December 19, 1980

Birth Place

Los Angeles, Calif.

Relationships

Reese Witherspoon, ex-girlfriend (2007 to 2009) Kirsten Dunst, ex-girlfriend (2002 to 2004)

1991

June 07

City Boy

At 11, Gyllenhaal gets his first taste of the big screen with a small role as Billy Crystal's son, Danny, in the summer hit City Slickers. The movie grabs more than $124 million at the domestic box office.

1999

February 19

Rocket Man

In October Sky, the actor plays NASA engineer Homer Hickman Jr., one of several young men trying to become rocket scientists to avoid mining. Entertainment Weekly credits Gyllenhaal for saving "the film from two-dimensionality" with his "passionate performance."

2001

August 24

First Flop

Gyllenhaal stars in the comedy Bubble Boy about a teen with a deficient immune system. Although the film is a commercial flop, earning just over $5 million, Gyllenhaal never regrets starring in the film. "Know what's interesting about that movie? The result just wasn't the process. The process of that movie was wonderful!" he tells GQ in 2007. "A lot of people talk about other movies I've done as being very courageous – but I want to go to more places with that intention. To me, that's a success."

October 26

Becoming a Cult Hero

Gyllenhaal stars in Donnie Darko. His portrayal of a sullen, schizophrenic teenager who hears voices in his head from a man-size rabbit with a twisted-mask, makes him a cult superhero. Although the film flops at the box-office, it becomes "the trippy underground hit of a generation," according to Entertainment Weekly. "Every day someone comes up and is like, 'Donnie Darko man...f---! We gotta talk about it,'" he tells EW.

2002

March

Big Thespian

Gyllenhaal tries his hand at theatre in the London production of This is Our Youth with Hayden Christensen and Anna Paquin. The performance leads to a role in director Sam Mendes' Jarhead. "I don't think I had realized until I saw him onstage how masculine he was," Mendes tells Premiere magazine. "He's a big guy and he has a combination of soulfulness and 'man of action' I was looking for."

September

Love Connection

After Gyllenhaal lends his support to sister Maggie at the September 18 premiere of her movie Secretary, she helps her brother in return, introducing him to her pal Kirsten Dunst, who becomes his girlfriend.

September 27

Hunk on the Set

While shooting the romantic drama Moonlight Mile, Gyllenhaal sets hearts ablaze behind the scenes: "Everyone had crushes on him – wardrobe, makeup, everybody," his costar Aleksia Landeau tells PEOPLE. "He's not like those actors who are like, 'Look at me!' He has a poetic soul. He lets people come to him."

December 02

Making the Cut

Gyllenhaal wins a spot in PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive issue. "He's gorgeous, and he's got those big dreamy eyes," his Moonlight Mile costar Susan Sarandon tells the magazine. "A lot of eyes can't offer 'I love you' in a convincing way. With Jake, you believe he has the capability and the depth to love. That's awesomely attractive." Gyllenhaal will make another appearance in the issue in 2006.

2004

March

Puppy Love

Gyllenhaal and girlfriend Dunst adopt a 6-month-old German shepherd mix they name Atticus after the main character in Gyllenhaal's favorite book To Kill A Mockingbird.

May 28

Action!

Gyllenhaal stars in The Day After Tomorrow. The action blockbuster adventure is a transition for the indie film star, who doesn't apologize for taking the role. "Choices are choices. I had done five movies in a row that asked a lot of me, and just wanted to run around," Gyllenhaal tells Entertainment Weekly. "It wasn't necessarily realistic, but I liked that it said something relevant."

2004

June 14

Settling In

Dunst and Gyllenhaal share the actress's $1.7 million Los Angeles home and wear gold promise bands (hers on a chain around her neck). "I am really happy and in love," she tells PEOPLE.

July 20

Moving On...

Dunst's rep announces that her client and Gyllenhaal have split up. Declining to provide details or dates, the rep says, "Kirsten and Jake remain the best of friends. . . They are still very close." A few weeks later, the former couple are spotted on a lunch date in L.A. Dunst's rep denies a revived romance but the pair are spotted together again and again.

2005

November 04

New Role, New Look

Gyllenhaal plays a marine in the Gulf War drama Jarhead, costarring with Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgaard (his sister's love interest). As for the military "do," "They buzz it every other day," he tells PEOPLE. "It's a science." Would he shave it again after the film? "Without a doubt," he says. "I felt really badass! I felt strong, present and alive. It takes the sense of vanity away."

December 09

'I Wish I Knew How to Quit You'

Brokeback Mountain, a movie about two men who fall in love during a sheepherding expedition, opens to critical acclaim. Gyllenhaal plays flashy rodeo cowboy Jack Twist opposite Heath Ledger's quiet, conflicted Ennis Del Mar. "I really did approach it like I would any love story," Gyllenhaal tells Entertainment Weekly. Both actors earn Oscar nominations for their heart-felt performances.

2006

December 28

Real Help

The leading man lends a real hand when the San Francisco lodge where he and his family are vacationing for the holidays catches fire. "Jake was helping me pull things out of the fire," Daniel DeLong, a chef and co-owner of the historic lodge, told the Marin Independent Journal. No one was injured.

2007

March 02

Gyllenhaal's Zodiac

Suspense thriller Zodiac, starring Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo, opens at No. 2. New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis dubs the stars a "trio of beauties" who are "all at the top of their performance game." The true-crime film explores the notorious Zodiac serial killer that stalked the Bay area and is directed by David Fincher (Se7en). Gyllenhaal plays cartoonist-turned-writer Robert Graysmith, who obsessively corresponds with the possibly still-at-large, unidentified murderer.

March

More than Costars

Gyllenhaal quietly spends time with Rendition costar Reese Witherspoon, who split with husband Ryan Phillippe five months earlier. In 2009, after spending two years together, the couple calls it quits. "Jake would marry her tomorrow," a source tells PEOPLE. "But Reese doesn't want to go there yet, even though he would like to."

2010

May 28

Jake Gets Ripped

Gyllenhaal gets in superhero shape for The Prince of Persia, where he plays a street urchin-turned-hero. "It was so hard," he sarcastically tells PEOPLE. "Being an actor is so hard. Being in shape is so hard, too, and being paid to get into shape is even harder – and you can quote me on all of those."