Jake Gyllenhaal filmography character, a "sullen" and "schizophrenic" teenager, made him a cult hero. Although the film was critically acclaimed, it failed commercially. Gyllenhaal starred in the 2004 disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow", which, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, was a commercial success at the box office. In 2005, he co-starred as Jack Twist opposite Heath Ledger in the romance drama "Brokeback Mountain". The actors portrayed two men that fall in love during a sheepherding expedition. The roles earned both Gyllenhaal and Ledger critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations. That same year, he starred in the drama films "Jarhead" and "Proof".
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: