Maggie's not for turning

Most US movie actresses make insanely tepid interviewees. They're afraid to speak their mind - if they have one - lest they never work again. Afraid to eat lest they blimp above size zero, yet compelled to do so in front of you to prove they haven't got an eating disorder. An exceptional case is Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Whether you know her best from crawling on all fours to the boss with a stapler in her mouth in breakthrough S&M romcom Secretary, or as the eternally cool older sister to real-life little brother Jake in Donnie Darko, it's clear this subtle, articulate Columbia graduate is unafraid to say her piece, be herself and get rewarded with interesting roles.

But after a Golden Globe nomination for her latest movie, Sherrybaby, and Hollywood knocking down her door, can this indie starlet maintain her independence?

'It's funny,' she muses carefully, tugging a tight, primly sexy Victoriana blouse over her very mini, but reassuringly human, muffin top, 'because I said something a couple of years ago that was really misunderstood.

'After 9/11 I said I thought it was our responsibility as Americans to think not only about the horrible thing that happened to us, but also how we can amend the way we live to help a really awful situation in the world. It seemed pretty benign to me. But it got a lot of press and then people would say: "Are you afraid to speak out about things now?". I'd say: "no I'm not" - but you know? I am.' And she admits it with a sweet, utterly winning, earnestness.

Long-limbed and gangly on screen, the Maggie in front of me is surprisingly petite. Her large, vulnerable and smoke-smudged Bambi eyes and distinctive teddy bear nose are accompanied by a ootsey-cutesy voice, intriguingly offset by a mature inner poise: possibly the inheritance of her noble Swedish ancestry.

Father Stephen is an Emmy-nominated film and TV director while mother Naomi is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. Both taught her to 'believe in making movies that are actually about something'. Such as Sherrybaby, a tough one-woman drama about a recovering heroin addict trying to raise her child that Naomi Gyllenhaal came across while mentoring at the Sundance Institute.

'To be honest, a teeny, tiny movie without financing such as this... it's hard for a project like that to reach me now,' sighs Maggie in regretful recognition that her stellar career has moved out of her own hands. 'But I read it all in one sitting. I seldom have a really magnetic pull like that to a character or script, but when I do I know that's something I have to do. Every once in a while, of course, I'll choose to make a movie for another reason... like naked ambition.' I raise an eyebrow. 'No, no. Not really. I never do that.'

If it wasn't for the little matter of starring in the new Batman movie, I'd have absolutely no doubt she means it. Do we smell 'sell out' from an actress who'd once declared herself 'not interested' in doing teen or action movies? 'OK, it's funny, but I think Chris Nolan, who's directing it, did a really good job with the last Batman movie,' she says.

'It took me all day to read the script because it's really long and I have a new baby. After I'd finished I called Chris and said: "Why do you want me?" You know, some people just want a girl who'll stand where they tell you to and wear what they want. Instead I come from a very specific point of view. I'm going to have all these thoughts about the character. But he was really receptive and interested - I thought this is going to be so cool. I'm kinda thinking I'll be a bit spicy, like Carrie Fisher in Star Wars.'