Trivia
- Peter received the role of Chuck Lane the film Shattered Glass after Greg Kinnear parted with the role.
- In the script of Kinsey, of which he had a supporting role in, Peter did not have to strip in the motel scene.
- Peter dated model/actress Shalom Harlow in 2001.
- Peter has said he is close friends with his wife's brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, with whom he co-starred in Jarhead and Rendition.
- Peter stands at a tall 6' or 1.83 m.
- In 2004, Peter was nominated for a Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor for his role as Charles Lane in the 2003 film Shattered Glass. Peter again was nominated for an ISA for Best Supporting Male for his role as Clyde Martin the the 2004 film Kinsey.
- In 2004, Peter was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his role as Charles Lane in the 2003 film Shattered Glass.
- In 2005, Peter was nominated for a Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Troy in the film Jarhead.
- Peter's childhood idol was Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett.
- In 2003, Peter won a San Francisco Film Critics Circle award for Best Supporting Actor in the role of Charles Lane in the film Shattered Glass.
- In 2005, Peter won a Glitter Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Clyde Marting in the 2004 film Kinsey.
- Peter's received $750,000 for his role as Carson in the 2005 film Flightplan.
- In 2004, Peter won Best Actor at the Stockholm Film Festival for his role as Mark in the film Garden State.
- Sarsgaard hosted Saturday Night Live on January 21, 2006 (with musical guests The Strokes). In his introduction, he tried to point out that he was a nice guy despite his sometimes macabre image. He then played video clips of himself creeping out the SNL players, including one clip where Kenan Thompson walks into a room and finds Sarsgaard naked reading a newspaper.
- Known for often playing dark and villainous characters, he performs predominantly in supporting roles in a wide variety of low-budget and major studio films, ranging from drama to horror and action thrillers.
- Peter is married to actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. The couple had their first child, Romana, on October 3, 2006.
Quotes
- Peter: When people say, 'The movie sucked, but you didn't'; that means you didn't swing hard enough. You bunted. If the movie goes down, I want to go down with it.
- Peter: If you go in and audition for roles rather than just be offered them, then you kind of get a chance to kind of discover that you can do something that you didn't think you could do.
- Peter: I just pick the best roles that are left over, and they usually aren't the heterosexual, leading-man, non-drug-addict parts. And once you get into doing them, people know you do them.
