Maggie Gyllenhaal Reveals She Wrote ‘The Lost Daughter’ After Being ‘Radicalized’ Politically and Emotionally: ‘Things Started to Shake up Inside Me’

The Lost Daughter is Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s feature directorial debut. She’s a long-time actor who is gaining praise for her new drama. However, real-life events inspired Gyllenhaal to take the leap to begin writing and to step to the other side of the camera. She recently explained how a political incident “radicalized” her on multiple levels and begin writing a screenplay.

What is ‘The Lost Daughter’ about?

The Lost Daughter follows Leda (Olivia Colman). She’s a professor who heads to Greece for a holiday to get away from things. However, an increasingly agitated family arrives and disrupts her temporary peace on the beautiful Greek beaches. When she sees Nina (Dakota Johnson) and her daughter, it brings back Leda’s memories of early motherhood. As a result, her reality begins to unravel.

Gyllenhaal’s feature directorial debut brings Colman and Johnson together for a couple of highly-praised performances. However, other supporting performances are also getting acclaim. Jessie Buckley is getting award nominations for her performance as a young Leda in flashbacks. The film also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Ed Harris, and Paul Mescal.

Maggie Gyllenhaal wrote ‘The Lost Daughter’ after being ‘radicalized’

Elle recently interviewed Gyllenhaal about The Lost Daughter. She discussed her experience on her feature directorial debut. Gyllenhaal talked about her inspirations, how the film came together, and how it relates to her own life. She mentioned that one political incident “radicalized” her, which inspired her to start writing.

“I do think that Donald Trump being elected had something to do with me becoming a director,” Gyllenhaal said. “In that, two weeks before the election, he could say whatever disgusting thing he said about ‘grabbing women’s p***ies’ and have there be absolutely no consequences to it. Not only that, but he’s then elected president?”

Gyllenhaal continued: “It radicalized me politically, but also emotionally … things started to shake up inside me and I began thinking, ‘what do I really want?’ And then I started to write.”

Maggie Gyllenhaal reflects on female directors

Gyllenhaal is a longtime member of the entertainment industry. However, she didn’t seriously consider working as a director earlier in her career. She reflected on how the industry perceives female directors differently and how starting in acting with a certain mindset was easier.

“I don’t think I really allowed myself to consider that possibility,” Gyllenhaal said to Elle. “It’s kind of sad to admit it, but I didn’t feel entitled to want [to direct] when I was younger.”

Gyllenhaal continued: “When I was growing up, there were some outliers who were super brave and women who were directing films, of course. But, mostly, if you were interested in film, if you were a storyteller and you were a woman, the easiest track was to say, ‘I’m an actress, I’m a thinking actress. I’m an actress with a point of view.'”

The Lost Daughter lands in limited theaters on Dec. 17 and will stream on Netflix starting on Dec. 31.