Jake Gyllenhaal to lead Lake Success, a new limited series from HBO

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We've seen many actors make the leap to television over the years, and it seems that Jake Gyllenhaal will be the latest to make the transition as he's set to star in an adaptation of Gary Shteyngart's "Lake Success" for HBO. This will mark Gyllenhaal's first starring role on television.

Lake Success will revolve around Barry Cohen (Gyllenhaal), a "narcissistic, self-deluded and hilariously divorced from the real-world hedge fund manager who flees his family, his past and the SEC on a cross-country bus ride in search of his college girlfriend and a last chance at romantic redemption. Meanwhile, back in Manhattan, his brilliant wife Seema struggles to raise their autistic son and begins a tragicomic love affair of her own." In addition to starring in the film, Jake Gyllenhaal will also executive produce through his Nine Stories production banner alongside co-founder Riva Marker. In a joint statement, Gyllenhaal and Marker said:

Gary's novel is a beautifully executed character study highlighting the depth of human contradiction and complication, set against the timely backdrop of America today. We are thrilled to partner with HBO, who has consistently been home to some of the most exciting and acclaimed premium content over the past two decades.

Author Gary Shteyngart will adapt his own novel for the limited-series and will co-write the script alongside Tom Spezialy (The Leftovers), with both serving as show-runners and executive producers.

A synopsis of "Lake Success" via Amazon:

Narcissistic, hilariously self-deluded, and divorced from the real world as most of us know it, hedge-fund manager Barry Cohen oversees $2.4 billion in assets. Deeply stressed by an SEC investigation and by his three-year-old son’s diagnosis of autism, he flees New York on a Greyhound bus in search of a simpler, more romantic life with his old college sweetheart. Meanwhile, his super-smart wife, Seema—a driven first-generation American who craved the picture-perfect life that comes with wealth—has her own demons to face. How these two flawed characters navigate the Shteyngartian chaos of their own making is at the heart of this piercing exploration of the 0.1 Percent, a poignant tale of familial longing and an unsentimental ode to what really makes America great.

Jake Gyllenhaal will next be seen as Mysterio in SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME on July 5, 2019.