He is the brother of actress , who played his sister in 2001. His godmother is actress. His mother is from a Jewish family, and his father's ancestry includes Swedish, English and Swiss-German. At the age of eleven, Gyllenhaal made his movie debut in the comedy-drama 1991 , playing 's character's son. He made an impact in various films in the late 1990s and early 2000s, in films such as the period drama 1999 , his breakthrough performance, and as the title role in the psychological thriller 2001 , for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor, playing a psychologically troubled teenager. He followed this with roles encompassing many different genres, including the comedy film, the Disney romantic comedy 2001 ; opposite in another Sundance favorite, 2002 , as a young man grieving the death of his fiancée in 2002 , and in the science fiction blockbuster 2004 , portraying a student caught in a cataclysmic climate event, opposite. The play was widely-received and played for eight weeks in London's West End. However, it was his follow-up performance that won critical acclaim in 2005 , in which he co-starred with Australian actor , as sheep herders who fall in love in the 1960s and depicts their relationship over the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. For his role as Jack Twist, Gyllenhaal received critical acclaim and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Since then, he has acted in a wide range of movies, ranging from the critically-acclaimed thriller, 2007 , the drama 2009 , playing opposite as the title siblings, in the action adventure film, 2010 , sporting a bulked-up physique, and the box office hit, 2010 , in which he teamed up with , once again, and for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In the 2010s, Gyllenhaal starred in several major films for which he received significant critical acclaim: science fiction thriller 2011 , police drama 2012 , mystery 2013 , dark media satire 2014 , the boxing drama 2015 , and the dramedy 2015. For Nightcrawler, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Gyllenhaal is the godfather of aka Matilda Rose Ledger , daughter of the late actor and. Gyllenhaal's most significant personal relationships have been with actresses and. He is friends with frontman , having known him since kindergarten. He is good friends with his sister's husband and 2005 co-star, actor.
