Jake Gyllenhaal has both literal godparents and what he describes as "celebrity godparents". The late actor and director Paul Newman was his celebrity godfather, and actress Jamie Lee Curtis was both his literal and celebrity godmother. Other godparents of unknown status include a gay couple and cinematographer Robert Elswit. Gyllenhaal himself is the godfather of Matilda Rose Ledger (born October 28, 2005), daughter of Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, both of whom co-starred with him in "Brokeback Mountain". Gyllenhaal dated actress Kirsten Dunst for nearly two years, starting in 2002. He later dated his "Rendition" co-star Reese Witherspoon from about 2007 to
Maggie Gyllenhaal "Margalit" () is a Hebrew word meaning "pearl"; some news stories have spelled it "Margolit". She has one sibling, actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Her father is a film director and poet, and her mother is a screenwriter and director. Her father, a member of the Gyllenhaal family, is of Swedish and English ancestry, and was raised in the Swedenborgian religion. Her last native Swedish ancestor was her great-great-grandfather Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, a descendant of Leonard Gyllenhaal, a leading Swedenborgian who supported the printing and spreading of Swedenborg's writings. Her mother was born in New York City (growing up in Brooklyn), and