Overall, “The Last Daughter” was a great directorial debut for Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film, an adaptation of an Elena Ferrante novel, debuted at the Venice Film Festival last year and got a four-minute standing ovation. Critics lauded Maggie’s direction, and the movie made a couple of year-end top 10 lists and nabbed a few Oscar noms. And it also made Maggie a screenwriter and director to look out for on top of her acting. Of course, the Gyllenhaals have always had cinematic talent; they’re a filmmaking family, after all. Well, it looks like a family reunion is on the way.
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According to EW, Maggie Gyllenhaal and her brother Jake Gyllenhaal are working on a project together. And in a separate interview with InStyle, Jake brought up the new sibling collaboration but stayed quiet on what it might be. The only confirmation? It won’t be as actors, so maybe brother and sister are hard at work on Maggie’s next film.
“We actually talk about [working together] more now than ever, and I would love to work with her,” Jake said in the interview. “We are working together on something right now, just creatively, not as actors, which I’m enjoying so much.” So, that sounds like a screenplay of some sort, if their project is movie-related. The siblings have acted together on-screen before but haven’t done so since Richard Kelly‘s 2001 cult film, “Donnie Darko.” They also worked together on two of their father Stephen‘s films, 1993’s “A Dangerous Woman” and 1998’s “Homegrown.”
Will the siblings ever team up for a movie Maggie directs? “I would love to work with her. I’d love to act in one of her films or wherever she needs me,” Jake said. “Since we’ve been kids, I’ve been basically her assistant or whatever form she needs me to be in, so I will continue to be that. I’m her little brother, and if anyone’s a younger sibling, they understand what I mean.” It certainly sounds like Jake would like to explore filmmaking with his sister. “She’s an incredible writer,” he continued, “and she’s an incredible filmmaker, and I’ve known that for a long time.”
So, while details are slim about whatever their collaboration is, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal feel pretty good about it and want to explore that opportunity. After the success of “The Lost Daughter” last year, Maggie has the freedom to make any film she wants. Maybe her next one is this project with Jake?