From
infoplease:
Jake GyllenhaalActorBorn: 19 December 1980
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Best known as: The star of
Donnie Darko and
Brokeback MountainJake Gyllenhaal's turn as a rocket-loving youngster in 1999's
October Sky moved him directly into the Hollywood category of hot young actors to watch. It led to more memorable parts in the spooky sci-fi hit
Donnie Darko (2001, co-starring his sister, Maggie) and
The Good Girl (2002, with Jennifer Aniston).
Blue-eyed and with usually tousled
brown hair, Gyllenhaal has a standout
gawky charm that makes up for a lack of classical movie-star looks. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal, he has been in and around movies since he was a kid (he played Billy Crystal's son in 1991's
City Slickers). He starred in the drama
Moonlight Mile (2002, with Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon) and the global-warming disaster movie
The Day After Tomorrow (2004). In 2005 he played a Marine fighting the Gulf War in
Jarhead and co-starred with Heath Ledger in
Brokeback Mountain, the much-discussed "gay cowboy movie" directed by Ang Lee.