Jake Gyllenhaal, the Oscar-nominated actor known for powerful roles in Brokeback Mountain and Donnie Darko as well as a host of action and romcom appearances, will make his Broadway debut in December.
He will star in the American premiere of Constellations by Nick Payne, which was warmly received when it was performed in London in 2012 with Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall. It considers the idea of a multiverse – parallel universes with slightly differing possibilities – where the play's central couple sometimes live harmoniously in love, sometimes fractiously. "He has written a play about the infinite possibilities of love, the way we delude ourselves by thinking we never have enough time, when of course we have all the time in the (many) world(s)," wrote Lyn Gardner in the Guardian, in a four star review.
Gyllenhaal has worked with Payne's material before, performing in his play If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet off-Broadway in 2012, which was also directed by Constellations' upcoming director Michael Longhurst.
Gyllenhaal has focused mainly on film, but an early success came on stage in 2002, with a London production of Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth. He won the outstanding newcomer prize at the Evening Standard awards, and recently expressed a desire to return to the London stage. "I love it here and I loved working here on the stage," he said last year, singling out the Old Vic as particularly attractive. "The Old Vic is such an incredible institution and an amazing theatre space. I would love to work there. And if that temptation calls, I will answer in one way or another."
His actor sister Maggie will also make her Broadway debut this year, opposite Ewan McGregor in Tom Stoppard's comedy The Real Thing.
