Maggie Gyllenhaal may have played a part in accidentally killing all of her husband Peter Sarsgaard's bees
Maggie Gyllenhaal may have played a part in accidentally killing all of her husband Peter Sarsgaard's bees
Emlyn TravisMon, March 23, 2026 at 7:35 PM UTC
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Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal attend "The Bride" New York City premiere on March 3, 2026Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Honey, no!
Maggie Gyllenhaal has admitted that she may have accidentally played a part in the death of husband Peter Sarsgaard’s entire bee colony at their Brooklyn home.
The Bride director spoke about her husband’s love of the great outdoors during a recent visit to the SmartLess podcast, telling hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes that Sarsgaard “raises bees and chickens and taps maple trees” in his free time.
Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Dec. 3, 2023 in Los AngelesCredit: Taylor Hill/WireImage
“This guy is such a good actor and now you're telling me he's got this move too?” Bateman asked.
So, in an effort to make Bateman feel better, Gyllenhaal brought up Sarsgaard’s beekeeping disaster. “I’ll tell you this, just so you don't feel bad,” she began. “All of his bees in Brooklyn died and it was because he made a beekeeping mistake. And he was so upset about it.”
Gyllenhaal explained that she comforted her husband at the time by reminding him that he was trying his best. “I was like, ‘Peter, you were in Switzerland acting and then you went and did another movie in London right away. You were home for one week and your bees died,’” she said. “'Like, some people's only job is doing bees. Give yourself a break!'”
Bees on a honeycombCredit: Getty
But the anecdote piqued Bateman’s interest. “Maggie, did you shirk your responsibilities in babysitting the bees?” he asked. To which Gyllenhaal responded, “Yeah, man. I think I maybe did.”
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Bateman continued, “I think you've gotta be able to shoulder some of that, right? The guy’s off at Switzerland. You know she had something on a piece of paper saying, ‘Baby, all I need you to do is just water the bees for me!’”
Arnett, on the other hand, immediately came to Gyllenhaal’s defense. “Don’t put this on her,” he chastised his fellow cohost. But a laughing Gyllenhaal simply replied, “You’re not wrong!”
Hayes noted that he envisioned the whole beekeeping fiasco like it was a movie scene. “I picture you guys driving away just going, ‘Oh s---, the bees!’” he teased. “Like Kevin in Home Alone.”
Earlier in the podcast, Gyllenhaal explained that Sarsgaard takes his beekeeping very seriously.
“Peter sometimes is like, ‘I don't need the hood. I don't even need the gloves. I read this book’ — and he did! — ‘and listened to this thing and watched these videos about how to like be zen and do it so the bees that come to you,’” she said. “And then he gets, like, 10 stings on his arms.”
Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard tied the knot in 2009 after seven years of dating. The couple share two daughters together: Ramona, 19, and Gloria, 13.
Listen to Gyllenhaal share her husband’s beekeeping misfortunes in the clip above.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
