HOWZAT

The film’s sexually explicit theme attracted huge attention, but its underlying message was one of self-empowerment. It certainly empowered Gyllenhaal.

“It changed everything for me in terms of my career,” she says. “Secretary was the first movie where I really had something substantial to do and it was a huge collaboration — it was so great. I thought that was what it was like working with a director, then I went and worked on some other things and realised that, no, that is the exception.”

After Secretary, Gyllenhaal was not inundated with similar roles. “I don’t think there are too many similar roles!” she laughs. But there was, inevitably, a flood of overtly sexual parts in more mainstream but less challenging films. A short cut to fame, but usually a dead end.

“I’ve been offered things like that,” Gyllenhaal shrugs. “But I know playing that role in that movie, no matter how much they pay me, no matter how big it is, will not lead to something good because there’s no humanity in it. No matter what, it will be awful. And you know what? I can wait to make my money until I find something that has a little more humanity in it.”

After Secretary, Gyllenhaal relocated from LA to New York and dabbled in left-field theatre. She also broke up with her long-term artist boyfriend, and is currently involved with the actor Peter Sarsgaard, a subject she is reluctant to discuss in detail. “We met at a dinner party,” she admits after much prodding.

“I’d love to work with him. He was so great in Boys Don’t Cry. He’s a very brave actor.”

Despite her growing fame, Gyllenhaal continues to favour small, indie films. She is especially proud of Laurie Collyer’s Shall Not Want, about a young mother fresh out of prison. The committed young star is clearly happy to put her lack of money where her mouth is on low-budget, socially conscious dramas. But she also admits, almost apologetically, that she finally feels ready for a big Hollywood payday.

“All of these were tiny little independent movies that interested me and excited me,” she nods. “For the first time in my life, though, I’m thinking I’d like to make a little bit of money. I’ve been looking for something bigger to do that would satisfy that desire, but it’s so hard to find something that interests me that’s being made on a grander scale. So much of that stuff is not good.”

Perhaps Gyllenhaal’s forthcoming lead role in Stranger Than Fiction by the director of Finding Neverland, Marc Forster, will finally elevate her from kooky indie queen to credible mainstream star. Either way, she has time on her side, even if her principles sometimes get in the way.

“I used to have this fantasy of having this perfectly clean slate of work where it was all honourable,” she smiles anxiously. “But it’s so young to think that way! I’ve made some mistakes choosing things, but I’ve also made really good choices. I’ve done a little bit of both, and I’m learning.”

A MATCH-MAKER IN HOLLYWOOD: WANT TO BE IN MAGGIE’S GANG?

KNOW Maggie Gyllenhaal, know her showbiz set of stars and starlets — whose complicated emotional entanglements promise to keep the LA rumour mill ticking along for many years.

It all started when Maggie introduced Jake Gyllenhaal (her brother) to Spiderman star Kirsten Dunst on the set of their saccharine collaboration Mona Lisa Smile. Cue one of Hollywood’s more durable romances, which came to an abrupt end amid rumours of an on-set liaison between Dunst and Tobey Maguire while they were filming Spidey’s action-packed sequel.

With the relationship over, Scarlett Johansson set her amorous sights on Jake, only to be rebuffed while the two were shooting in London. Jake was subsequently linked with the Star Wars and Harvard graduate Natalie Portman.

Where does that leave us? Well, Kirsten and Jake have kissed and made up, and Maggie’s brother looks set to make a splash starring in Sam Mendes’s Gulf War film Jarhead — coincidentally starring her current beau Peter Sarsgaard.

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