Maggie Gyllenhaal: one half of the movies' hippest sister/brother act stands up and stands out

Twenty-four-year-old actress Maggie Gyllenhaal is the latest standout from the movie family of the moment. Both her parents, Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Foner, are long-established talents behind the camera (he as a director-writer-producer, she as a writer-producer), and her brother, Jake, has been igniting screens this year as an actor (The Good Girl, Moonlight Mile). And now Maggie's confused, repressed and ultimately liberated young woman in the season's cult hit Secretary has established the actress as a rising star in the independent cinema. Her supporting roles in George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and next month's buzzed-about Adaptation (the latest from director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, with a plot so intricate we'll gladly defer to Gyllenhaal's explanation in the following interview) should continue her ascension. Here, Gyllenhaal talks with actress Kelly Lynch, a longtime friend and keen supporter.

KELLY LYNCH: Hi, beauty!

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL: Hey! How are you doing?

KL: I'm great, thanks. So, doll, it's finally coming out. You know I was there at Sundance, where Secretary first screened.

KL: People were going, "Do you know what this is about?" And I said, "I absolutely know what it's about." Shane's 16. She and I have always been super-open about sexual things.

MG: And so was your daughter! It was awesome that you guys saw it together.

KL: Can I tell you something? I've known you and your family for years. I absolutely adore you and think you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. But when the movie started, I went, "Why have they done this to Maggie? [Gyllenhaal laughs] What in the hell is she wearing? What's with this lighting?" And then, obviously, shortly into the film I started to understand: "Oh--this is a character who's actually going to have an arc!"

MG: I don't think there's any reason why a 16-year-old can't see Secretary. It's about someone discovering what feels overwhelming and erotic to them, and that seems like the best thing a 16-year-old can see.

MG: [laughs] I wonder if you've ever had this experience on any of the movies you've worked on: I feel that the way I look--the way I feel about my sexuality--was really informed by, and changed by, making this movie. In the beginning, I had a really hard time shooting scenes where I had to look beautiful. I would get so nervous. But by the end of shooting and now, even, I feel very different about it. I really learned something making it.

KL: That's the whole idea. Ideally you learn from every experience, good or bad. My idea of how I look good, or how I feel, is different than what a lot of people want me to look like on film. It comes down to this idea of what's erotic and sexy. And for me, what's erotic is someone's mind. Whether or not someone has rock-hard abs is not quite as important, you know? And lately I've been complaining because I've not seen male actors even look at the woman, girlfriend, whatever the female part is, really look at them and deal with them onscreen.

MG: Well, that is what Secretary is about. Lee [Gyllenhaal's character] goes from being in a place where absolutely nobody sees her at all to one where she goes to work for this guy, makes a tiny typing error, and he flies into an uncontrollable rage over it. I don't think that's the ideal way to be seen, but it's a start.

KL: [laughs] It's a start! Lee could have literally lit herself on fire at home and it would have been like: "Honey, do you smell something burning?"

MG: Exactly. But then he [E. Edward Grey, James Spader's character] notices if even one hair is out of place, and she realizes, Hey! My absence or presence makes a difference in the temperature of the room. You know, that Sundance screening you were at was actually the first time I ever saw the film with an audience and--

KL: --And your mom and dad! Your dad had a very interesting look on his face at that screening. It was tremendous pride, of course, like, "I'm in the business and now she's in the business," plus, "Oh, my God! I've seen things a dad shouldn't see!"

MG: [laughs] That's when I have to remember that I can't always take my parents' advice about filmmaking. I don't think they're able to be completely objective in particular situations, such as this one.

KL: I couldn't be either. People are always calling and asking, "Can we use Shane for this ad campaign?" Abercrombie & Fitch called recently, and the photographer is a dear friend of ours and he would take the most beautiful pictures, but I was thinking: Oh. no! Her little topless bosoms out in the world! [both laugh]

MG: But she's 16, and as a parent, you have to protect her. I was 23 when I made Secretary, and there were all these people trying to protect me. And I felt like, Wait a minute! I can take care of myself, at least up to the point where I'm not going to allow myself to be victimized. Maybe I'll make some decisions that are wrong--I already have--but that's for me to learn.