Peter Sarsgaard Shares the Secret to His 15-Year Marriage with Maggie Gyllenhaal: We 'Take Turns' Working (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal on Oct. 19, 2024.Photo:Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Peter Sarsgaardis explaining one of the secrets behind hismarriagetoMaggie Gyllenhaal.

While speaking with PEOPLE recently about his new filmSeptember 5, Sarsgaard, 53, noted that he and actor/writer/director Gyllenhaal, 47, don’t often work on projects at the same time.

“We take turns in terms of our work,” he says. “I think that’s one of the things that you just sort of have to do is let someone have their dance and then you take your dance. There is great value in that.”

“I think at one point I used to think that I would work more if I could,” Sarsgaard adds. “But I think that’s wrong. I think I would’ve done a lot more things that I was not proud of. So when I say yes to do something, it’s some type of sacrifice for me. Not a big one. Everyone else has got bigger sacrifices in the world, but just talking artistically — I can’t work constantly. I have a whole other life. I have a family.”

Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal on Sept. 3, 2021.Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

As a result, Sarsgaard says he likes to “pick and choose” projects he is interested in working on. He cites his first meeting withSeptember 5director Tim Fehlbaum as an example of how that decision “makes it so that I take meetings seriously.”

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“I am not shy about kicking the tires and making sure he’s as serious as I am about making this thing the best thing it can be,” he adds. “But I don’t know if I have couple advice. I think every couple is as unique as every person. I think it would be a lot more difficult to be married to someone who had a more consistent type of employment in one place.”

Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal had a chance to collaborate creatively recently on their upcoming movieThe Bride, which Gyllenhaal wrote, directed and produced. The film is based on Mary Shelley’s classicFrankenstein.It also features Sarsgaard’sSeptember 5costar John Magaro as well as his brother-in-lawJake Gyllenhaal, whileChristian BaleandJessie Buckleyportray Frankenstein’s monster and his bride, respectively.

Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal on Oct. 25, 2022.Jason Mendez/Getty

Jason Mendez/Getty

“This is a huge movie. She was leading a set of hundreds of people,” Sarsgaard adds of Maggie’s directing skills. “It’s my wife up there, it’s my wife darting out of the tent and come on over and talking to this actor and darting back in. She’s such a great leader and she has such a great mind.”

September 5is in select theaters now; the movie expands to theaters everywhere Jan. 17.

source: people.com