Maggie Gyllenhaal has shared how her feelings toward her brother Jake shifted during the early years of their acting careers.
Competition between siblings can be tricky on its own, but it can get even more complicated when both are pursuing the same dream—especially if one breaks through first.
Today, the pair are established names in Hollywood. Jake is widely recognised for roles including Brokeback Mountain, while Maggie earned major acclaim after her standout performance in Secretary.
Still, Maggie has admitted that earlier in their careers she sometimes struggled with jealousy, particularly as Jake began landing prominent roles before she did.
In an interview with The New York Times, she discussed envy more generally and explained how those feelings showed up for her at the time.
“In general, I am very interested in envy,” she said. “I think there’s a reason it’s a seven deadly sin. I’m interested in it in terms of watching other people’s movies come out.
“Admiration versus envy. What creates it? I think it’s usually feeling starving, like you don’t have enough.”
She also reflected on how that envy existed even when she didn’t fully recognise it in the moment.
“I don’t think I knew that at first, when I was young and Jake was a movie star right away,” she said.
“I don’t think I was in touch with the envy, but it was there.”
Both siblings got their start as child actors in the early 1990s. Jake made his first film appearance in 1991’s City Slickers.
Maggie followed soon after, debuting in the 1992 drama Waterland, which was directed by their father, Stephen Gyllenhaal.
Jake’s first leading role arrived in 1999, while Maggie’s first major lead came a few years later with Secretary in 2002.
Now the two are set to work together again as part of Maggie’s upcoming film The Bride, a gothic romance inspired by Bride of Frankenstein.
“In the past, I’ve had to be separate from my family, from my brother,” Maggie said. “Like, cool, I’ve got my own thing going. We both started so young.”
Maggie added that she didn’t approach Jake about joining the project lightly, and wanted to be completely certain he was right for it.
“I waited until I was absolutely sure that asking him to do this part was the right thing to do,” she said.
“I remember asking him and tearing up alone in this hotel room I was in, because it meant so much to me. It meant so much for me to interact with him.”