Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal are still going strong after 14 years of marriage, and according to him, the reason is “simple.”
When asked about the key to a long-lasting romance, the 52-year-old actor told E! News revealed he only has one strategy. “Tell the truth,” Sarsgaard said. “Isn’t that all there is? It’s pretty simple. It’s not that complicated. Isn’t that the secret to any friendship or relationship?”
Sarsgaard is a firm believer that honesty really is the best policy. “Otherwise, even if it’s a nice lie, even if it’s a lie to prop someone up or help them avoid what they’re trying to avoid, you’re not living in reality,” he continued. “And that’s the only place to live in.”
Sarsgaard was close pals with Jake Gyllenhaal before sparking a romance with his sister in 2002. The couple got engaged in 2006, tying the knot three years later in Brindisi, Italy. Maggie and her husband share daughters Ramona, 17, and Gloria, 11.
Along with sharing rare insight into his marriage, Sarsgaard opened up about how he and his loved ones plan to celebrate the holidays. “There’s a church that we go to that has a midnight mass that I don’t go to any other time throughout the year,” he told E! News, detailing his favorite festive traditions. “The midnight mass there is extraordinary, and Maggie and I are sometimes able to sing.”
Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard at the 2002 Donna Karan “Black Cashmere” Launch Gregory Pace/FilmMagic
The couple have largely kept their family life out of the spotlight since becoming parents, but Maggie got candid about some of the unexpected challenges of raising children during a 2019 Q&A. At the time, her eldest daughter was “going into eighth grade” — and Maggie realized there was one thing she certainly wasn’t an expert on.
“[She] is so far beyond my math ability that I can’t help her,” she confessed. “[But she] is really, like, a notably excellent student and there are places where I can really help her. I love to read her essays. … I studied literature. I love talking about the books she’s reading.”
Sarsgaard, meanwhile, is the “music guy” in their home. “He believes that learning to read music and learning to play music is just as important as learning anything else you learn in school,” Maggie added. “I can read music like a kindergartner. I don’t have the discipline, and he really does. He has taught both of my daughters how to play instruments.”
Not only do Ramona and Gloria have parents with impressive resumes, but their A-list uncle is also their biggest fan. “My sister has raised two extraordinary daughters,” Jake gushed to Us Weekly exclusively in 2017. “They are so well behaved and they are so thoughtful. They are so observant of the world around them, and I’m so proud of not only them but my sister as a mother. When they come to me I get two great girls [but], you know, at the end of the day there are times where it’s not bad to hand them back.”
Seeing Maggie balance motherhood with “all the things she has on her plate already” in her career has made her even more inspiring in Jake’s eyes. “With her extraordinary talent and everything she does there, it says a lot about her and it says a lot about her husband. Fully devoted to their family. They give me a chance to be a fun uncle because their daughters are so cool,” he told Us.