awards for arts achievement

Jake Gyllenhaal has established himself as one of the most promising young actors of his generation with a diverse list of film credits—including 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, for which he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Screen Actors Guild, among others. He won the Best Supporting Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the National Board of Review for his performance.

He has also starred in Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes, about a Marine’s pre-Desert Storm experiences in Saudi Arabia and fighting in Kuwait; Proof, the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play also starring Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow and directed by John Madden; and the international blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, which imagines the devastating effects of global warming, opposite Dennis Quaid and directed by Roland Emmerich.

Mr. Gyllenhaal has received acclaim for his work in two independent films recently showcased at the Sundance Film Festival. Donnie Darko, a film combining the elements of mystical fantasy and science fiction with teenage romance, garnered him a Best Actor nomination for an Independent Spirit Award for his portrayal of the title character. In 2002’s The Good Girl, opposite Jennifer Aniston, he portrayed a young man who falls in love and has an affair with a married woman.

In 2002, Mr. Gyllenhaal made his theater debut on the London stage in Kenneth Lonergan’s revival of This Is Our Youth, for which he received an Evening Standard Theatre Award as Outstanding Newcomer. Mr. Gyllenhaal first received notice for his performance in the heartwarming October Sky, the story of a gifted high school student whose love of science and rocket building helps him avoid repeating his father’s harsh life in the coal mines.