Maggie Gyllenhaal admits directing husband Peter Sarsgaard can be 'complicated'

Maggie Gyllenhaal has admitted that directing her husband, Peter Sarsgaard, can be "complicated".

The actress and filmmaker has opened up about collaborating with her actor husband, whom she has been married to since 2009, and the challenges that come with working so closely together.

Speaking to The New York Times, Maggie reflected on directing Peter in her 2021 directorial debut The Lost Daughter, in which he plays Professor Hardy, who embarks on a passionate affair with Leda Jovem, portrayed by Jessie Buckley.

"It is complicated working with my husband, we've done it in all sorts of ways," she said. "We did The Lost Daughter, where he has a really hot love affair with Jessie Buckley."

Maggie revealed that she sought advice before committing to casting Peter in the role.

"I remember speaking to both my best girlfriend and to this teacher, and both of them were like: 'You can't manage this? Can you really not?' And I was like, 'I think I can, and I really want Peter to play this part,'" she recalled.

The Bride! director noted that she had to disconnect while overseeing the film's more intimate scenes.

"He was so good, and so was Jessie," she stated. "And watching them together and egging them each on from a very unconnected, emotionally, place and pushing them and watching them create the love, as real actors have to - I watched them do that."

"When I get a second to stop, it's a little hard, but we have to keep going," the actress continued. "Then we get to the sexy stuff. We shoot the scene on the steps where they're kissing, and I was just looking at it like: Is the light on her leg in the right way? And maybe if we just pan this way, very removed, and we got it."

Maggie added that repeating scenes proved challenging at times.

"Then my cinematographer, Hélène, says: 'Oh, no, this will not do. There is a wine glass on the steps. We have to do it again.' And I was like, 'We do?' So it was a little hard. It was also so full of life," the filmmaker shared.

Maggie recently directed Peter and Jessie alongside her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, in her latest film The Bride!, released in March.