Jake Gyllenhaal Dennis Quaid as his father. In his theatrical debut, Gyllenhaal starred on the London stage in Kenneth Lonergan's revival of "This Is Our Youth" at the Garrick Theatre in 2002. Gyllenhaal said, "Every actor I look up to has done theatre work, so I knew I had to give it a try." The play, which had been a critical sensation on Broadway, ran for eight weeks in London's West End. Gyllenhaal received favorable critical reviews and an Evening Standard Theatre Award in the category "Outstanding Newcomer". In 2005, Gyllenhaal starred in the critically praised films "Proof", "Jarhead", and "Brokeback Mountain".
Gyllenhaal family with his coat of arms now hanging in the House of Nobility ("Riddarhuset") in Stockholm, it is spelled "Gyllenhahl". Such ambiguities are typical of the time; it would be several generations before Swedish spelling was more strictly regulated. The prefix "Gyllen" ("Golden") was the one most used when ennobling someone since the 16th century. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, great-great grandson of the below-mentioned Anders Leonard Gyllenhaal, quipped during an interview prior to the British premiere of "" that his last name was pronounced "Yil-en-hoo-luh-hay", parodying Americans' difficulties with Swedish pronunciation. Nils Gunnarsson Gyllenhaal's descendants today stem from two of his sons: