A little piece with Jake in one of Maggie’s (Gyllenhaal) recent interviews.
Maggie Gyllenhaal admits she wasn?t that impressed when younger brother Jake casually decided to follow in her footsteps and become an actor ? especially when he scored the title role in the 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko and looked set to be the star of the siblings. His sister – who, as a teenager, used to boss him into taking part in her lounge room productions of Cats – got her own back a year later when she starred in Secretary.
“My brother and I used to be competitive when we were younger,” muses the 32-year-old. “But now I feel we’re different enough, old enough and love each other enough that competition feels like a waste of time.”
It helps that the pair have each carved their own successful – if slightly different – careers. With his leading man looks, Jake has specialised in big-budget hits, such as The Day After Tomorrow and Brokeback Mountain.
Meanwhile, his sister, with her slightly quirkier image, has reigned as the queen of indie, gathering kudos in smaller films such as SherryBaby and Happy Endings.
So it’s all happy families these days, except when it comes to cooking. It turns out Gyllenhaal junior, who recently split from actor Reese Witherspoon, is a fantastic cook and Maggie – a self-confessed perfectionist – will reluctantly concede she’s not in the same league.
“He’s exceptional – as good a cook as he is an actor,” she admits. “He was just here for the holidays and he cooked a lot. I have basic skills – I know how to steam vegetables and make pasta and salads – but I’m not so good at the harder stuff. I’d like to learn how to easily cook up something really great.”
I suggest that the test of a person’s skill in the kitchen is whether they can whip up “something great” without following a recipe.
