# Maggie Gyllenhaal - attractive, or am I missing something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800 "2010-06-19T19:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/61 "2010-06-20T05:26:45Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > I think her lack of stunning beauty actually works well for her as an actress - sometimes being too attractive can distract from a role or cause people to not take it seriously. Like, say, Meryl Streep or Diane Keaton. I think she’s good enough an actress to be considered their heiress. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/62 "2010-06-20T05:30:42Z")
She’s cute, not beautiful, but I can certainly see why lots of men find her very sexy. I pretty much only replied because I saw this: > [@](#): > > Absolutely. She, or at least the roles she plays, has a sexiness that so many far more conventionally “beautiful” actresses cannot deliver. She’s in that same category as Sissy Spacek **or Kate Winslet.** Bolding mine. I’m sorry, but… this made the record player in my mind scratch. Kate _Winslet_? In the same category that includes Sissy Spacek and Maggie Gyllenhaal? Unless the category is a generic one like “Actresses” or just “Women,” I don’t see anything these ladies have in common. Is it a common opinion that Kate Winslet isn’t conventionally beautiful? [The woman who looks like this](http://www.realbollywood.com/news/up_images/11112439.jpg)? [Or this](http://anewcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Actress-Kate-Winslet.jpg), or [this](http://www.mp3lyrics.org/k/kate-winslet/kate-winslet_1.Jpg)? I mean seriously. If Kate freakin’ Winslet isn’t considered beautiful, we none of us girls have a chance in hell! ---
**Author:** ![Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heavy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/63 "2010-06-20T05:30:55Z")
She looked great in “Crazy Heart” IMO… ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/64 "2010-06-20T05:43:10Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Bolding mine. I’m sorry, but… this made the record player in my mind scratch. Kate _Winslet_? I had to read it twice to be sure I saw it right. IMHO she is just about the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. What I wouldn’t GIVE to look like Kate Winslet. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/65 "2010-06-20T06:48:20Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > I saw her on The View once and Whoopi had to let her know that her hair was sitting weirdly on top of her head due to being carelessly brushed back - I agree that sometimes she just looks messy rather than unattractive. Many other famous women would be mortified if a hair was out of place (can you imagine Mariah Carey sitting on The View with a giant tuft of hair floating weirdly near the front of her head?), but I get the impression Maggie doesn’t really care that much. which is sexy all by itself. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/66 "2010-06-20T06:53:29Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > I had to read it twice to be sure I saw it right. IMHO she is just about the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. What I wouldn’t GIVE to look like Kate Winslet. Seriously. Kate Winslet is one of those people whose attractiveness seems to vary greatly depending on the angle she’s shot at. There are times when I see her and I think she’s very average-looking, and other times when she’s breathtaking. I don’t quite understand it, honestly. As for Maggie, these stories about how she doesn’t brush her hair 100% correctly (or just doesn’t care) makes her SO much more attractive. Maybe less “hot”, but way more attractive. Someone like Catherine Zeta-Jones, who apparently is insanely particular about how she looks, may be smokin’ hot, but that intense obsession with beauty products and her own appearance kind of repulses me. (note I’m not sure that she is, in reality, this way; this is merely the impression I get) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/67 "2010-06-20T12:13:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Actually, I thought she was exactly the type of woman a couple of men like Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent would think of as their soulmate. Do you think those two would care about superficial beauty? > > She was perfectly cast. Harvey Dent would, sure. In that film she was supposed to be _conventionally_ beautiful, and she’s not. I can see why you might think she’s hot, but not why you’d claim that she’s conventionally beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/68 "2010-06-20T12:16:22Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > Kate Winslet is one of those people whose attractiveness seems to vary greatly depending on the angle she’s shot at. I think the same for Drew Barrymore and Reece Witherspoon. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/69 "2010-06-20T12:52:23Z")
In that Batman movie, it appears like there is something wrong with her upper lip. Her two nasal passages seem to form two very pronounced ines on her upper lip and it makes her appear to be not at all attractive. But she doesn’t look that way in other films she has made. I think that somehow she was made to look that way intentionally, though I can’t imagine why. There was a time (after seeing this film) when I thought she was quite unattractive. But after watching some of her other films (especially that one where she works as a baker) and some of her documentary productions on PBS, I have changed my mind and think she is really quite beautiful. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/70 "2010-06-20T13:30:48Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > She is more than the sum of her parts. She has a sexiness that is hard to put words to. She is, in short, attractive, yes. > > But I would not call her “beautiful,” to be fair. She is most definitely “more than the sum of her parts”. And I’m not just talking about her looks. If you ever get a chance to scan the PBS TV listings, see if you can catch any of the documentary films she hosts. I don’t think that she produces or directs them. But she hosts the programs - maybe they are called “Independent Lens”? Sorry, but I’m not certain about the title of her show. I believe she hosts one or two programs on Sat or Sun evenings. She was ranked as #58 in FHM’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005” special supplement. (2005) She graduated Harvard-Westlake (private) high school in North Hollywood, California. She is of Swedish (noble) and Russian-Jewish descent … which may have something to do with her rather unique - rather intriguing physical appearance ). If you are interested in Maggie, it’s really worth reading her entry in IMDB: > **[Maggie Gyllenhaal - Biography - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350454/bio/)** > > Maggie Gyllenhaal. Actress: Secretary. Maggie Gyllenhaal was born on November 16, 1977 in New York City, New York as Margalit Ruth Gyllenhaal, the daughter of producer/screenwriter Naomi Foner and director Stephen Gyllenhaal, and the older sister of... ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/71 "2010-06-20T13:32:06Z")
In what universe could Maggie Gyllenhaal be considered to not be attractive? ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/72 "2010-06-20T13:38:54Z")
I don’t whether to think you all are insane for thinking she’s not pretty enough for you, or glad because that’s less competition for me to woo her into being my sex slave once I take over the world. She’s in the movie Secretary, you say? I’m putting that into my torrents list right now. Thanks for the links too, I’ll be in my bunk. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/73 "2010-06-20T14:05:08Z")
> [@choie](#): > > She’s cute, not beautiful, but I can certainly see why lots of men find her very sexy. > > I pretty much only replied because I saw this: > > Bolding mine. I’m sorry, but… this made the record player in my mind scratch. Kate _Winslet_? In the same category that includes Sissy Spacek and Maggie Gyllenhaal? Unless the category is a generic one like “Actresses” or just “Women,” I don’t see anything these ladies have in common. Is it a common opinion that Kate Winslet isn’t conventionally beautiful? [The woman who looks like this](http://www.realbollywood.com/news/up_images/11112439.jpg)? [Or this](http://anewcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Actress-Kate-Winslet.jpg), or [this](http://www.mp3lyrics.org/k/kate-winslet/kate-winslet_1.Jpg)? > > I mean seriously. If Kate freakin’ Winslet isn’t considered beautiful, we none of us girls have a chance in hell! I had the same reaction. Kate Winslet is unquestionably one of the great beauties of our age. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/74 "2010-06-20T14:07:15Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > I don’t whether to think you all are insane for thinking she’s not pretty enough for you, or glad because that’s less competition for me to woo her into being my sex slave once I take over the world. She’s in the movie Secretary, you say? I’m putting that into my torrents list right now. Thanks for the links too, I’ll be in my bunk. You know, you can get a complete list of all the films in which she has ever appeared by searching for “imdb maggie gyllenhaal”. IMDB is a site that contains a huge data base of every film ever made and every actor/actress who has ever appeared in a film. The movie The Secretary was one of her earliest films. She has been given much more attention in her later films and if you love to see pictures of Maggie that show off her good looks, I would recommend you look at some of her later films. Here is her link on IMDB: > **[Maggie Gyllenhaal | Actress, Producer, Director](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350454/)** > > Known for: Secretary, The Dark Knight, Crazy Heart I would especially recommend you see the film “Stranger than Fiction”. She looks a little different in that film. But, heck! She looks kind of different in most all of her films. But, in “Stranger than Fiction”, she plays a rather butch baker with lots of tattoos. If you get off on that kind of look, there will be plenty for you to enjoy in that film. ---
**Author:** ![Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Blut\_Aus\_Nord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blut_Aus_Nord)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/75 "2010-06-20T14:31:05Z")
She looks like Miss Piggy. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/76 "2010-06-20T14:55:48Z")
> [@Chakra Nadmara](#): > > She looks like Miss Piggy. She may look that way in one of her movies. But I think that was done intentionally to enhance the art. But, no matter how you slice it, it’s a lot better to look like Miss Piggy than it is to act like Miss Piggy. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/77 "2010-06-20T15:23:26Z")
If her eyes were any farther apart, she’d be a flounder. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/78 "2010-06-20T15:26:00Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Not having seen her nude, I can’t be sure, but I don’t think she has sagging breasts, I think they are just, for want of more proper medical terminology, set low on her torso. She does get naked in [Strip Search (TV Movie 2004) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376215/) But the whole point of the movie is that it’s a horrible humiliating naked, not a sexy happy naked so it’s hard to appreciate, but that is a credit to her acting more than a judgement of here body. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/79 "2010-06-20T16:31:50Z")
She’s naked in Secretary. I don’t remember thinking she’s got saggy breasts. They’re too small to sag (at least in that film - she may have had her kid since, not sure). And yes, she’s hot, and had a lovely, slightly quirky face. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800/80 "2010-06-21T13:36:08Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Here’s [another one, with her bad posture and saggy breasts.](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thebadandugly.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gylls.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thebadandugly.com/2008/01/11/the-bu-pitch-mister-sister/&usg=__Zu9MTQBeTnVK5Yaqg3Tpm03L9CY=&h=400&w=298&sz=40&hl=en&start=17&sig2=CQU_7l9yaHyNXMcmVYaTjQ&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Q3JcWipbMLwEzM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmaggie%2Bgyllenhaal%253B%253B%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADBR_enUS234US234%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=yCYdTJmlJISglAfH_9yKCg) Even worse than the photo is the plot description of that movie. It sounds absolutely terrible. I’ve seen her naked (_Secretary_; _Sherry Baby_) and clothed, and I think that naturally she is not attractive for all of the reasons mentioned, but she can be made to be attractive. If we all had Hollywood-studio-budgeted hair, makeup and lighting professionals following us around all day, everyone (well, most of us) would be beautiful too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maggie-gyllenhaal-attractive-or-am-i-missing-something/543800.md?page=5)