Maggie Gyllenhaal explains why she felt 'envy' towards younger brother Jake

Maggie Gyllenhaal has opened up about how she felt about her brother Jake during the early stages of their careers.

Sibling rivalry is one thing, but when two siblings are both trying to make it big in the world of acting then that's a whole other level, especially when one sibling makes it big before the other.

Both siblings are now highly successful actors, with Jake known for his role in Brokeback Mountain while Maggie has been praised for her breakout role in Secretary.

But despite them both being very successful, Maggie revealed that she has harboured some jealousy for her brother in the past, when he landed leading roles before her.

Speaking to The New York Times about envy in a broader sense, she went into some detail about how she had harboured some jealousy for her brother before.

"In general, I am very interested in envy," she said. "I think there's a reason it's a seven deadly sin. I'm interested in it in terms of watching other people's movies come out.

Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal worked on The Bride together (Dave Benett/WireImage)

"Admiration versus envy. What creates it? I think it's usually feeling starving, like you don't have enough."

She opened up about how she had some envy towards her brother at first, though she may not have fully realised.

"I don't think I knew that at first, when I was young and Jake was a movie star right away," she said.

"I don't think I was in touch with the envy, but it was there."

The siblings both started off as child actors in the early 1990s, with Jake having his first movie in 1991 with City Slickers.

Meanwhile Maggie had her debut in Waterland, a 1992 drama directed by their dad Stephen Gyllenhaal.

Maggie directed The Bride (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Jake got his first leading role in 1999, but Maggie would have to wait a little longer, landing a lead role in Secretary in 2002.

Now, the siblings are collaborating in Maggie's upcoming movie The Bride, a gothic romance inspired by Bride of Frankenstein.

"In the past, I've had to be separate from my family, from my brother," Maggie said. "Like, cool, I've got my own thing going. We both started so young."

She added that she had wanted to make sure that her brother was the right person for the role.

"I waited until I was absolutely sure that asking him to do this part was the right thing to do," she said.

"I remember asking him and tearing up alone in this hotel room I was in, because it meant so much to me. It meant so much for me to interact with him."