Tony Gilroy
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Anthony Joseph Gilroy (born September 11, 1956) is an American filmmaker. He wrote the screenplays for the original '' Bourne'' trilogy (2002–2007) and wrote and directed the fourth film of the franchise, '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012). He also wrote and directed '' Michael Clayton'' (2007) and '' Duplicity'' (2009), earning nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the former. In 2016, Gilroy was hired by Lucasfilm to provide rewrites and uncredited reshoots for '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (2016). He later returned to the '' Star Wars'' universe as the showrunner, head writer and executive producer of '' Andor'' (2022–present), a
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political spy drama series chronicling the evolution of
Cassian Andor Cassian Andor is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, primarily portrayed by actor Diego Luna. Introduced in the feature film ''Rogue One'' (2016) as a supporting character, he is the protagonist of the ongoing prequel televisio ...
over a five-year period preceding the events of ''Rogue One''.


Personal life

Gilroy was born in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City, the son of Ruth Dorothy (née Gaydos), a sculptor and writer, and Frank D. Gilroy, an award-winning playwright, director, and movie producer, who received the
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''
The Subject Was Roses ''The Subject Was Roses'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 play written by Frank D. Gilroy, who also adapted the work in 1968 for a film with the same title. Background The play premiered on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on May 25, 1964, st ...
'' in 1965. He is the brother of screenwriter
Dan Gilroy Daniel Christopher Gilroy (born June 24, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing and directing '' Nightcrawler'' (2014), for which he won Best Screenplay at the 30th Independent Spirit Awards, and was n ...
and editor John Gilroy. Through his father, he is of Italian, Irish and German descent. He has two children, Sam and Kathryn, and is married to Susan Gilroy. Gilroy was raised in
Washingtonville, New York Washingtonville is a village in the town of Blooming Grove, Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 5,657 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Are ...
. He graduated from
Washingtonville High School Washingtonville Senior High School is located on West Main Street (New York State Route 94) in the village of Washingtonville, New York. It is the high school for the Washingtonville Central School District. The adjacent middle school was once ...
in 1974 at 16 years old and attended
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
for two years before dropping out to concentrate on his music career.


Career


Writing

Gilroy has written many scripts for film, starting with the script for ''
The Cutting Edge ''The Cutting Edge'' is a 1992 American sports-romantic comedy film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and written by Tony Gilroy. The plot is about a wealthy, spoiled figure skater (played by Moira Kelly) who is paired with an injury-sidelined i ...
'' in 1992. This was followed by '' Dolores Claiborne'' in 1995 and '' The Devil's Advocate'' in 1997. He was one of five credited writers on Michael Bay's ''
Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
'', the highest-grossing film of 1998. Gilroy's next script was ''
Proof of Life ''Proof of Life'' is a 2000 American action thriller film directed and produced by Taylor Hackford. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a kidnap victim is still alive. The film's screenplay was written by Tony Gilr ...
'' in 2000. In 2002, 2003 and 2007 he wrote the screenplays for '' The Bourne Identity'', '' The Bourne Supremacy'' and '' The Bourne Ultimatum'', and wrote and directed the next installment of the Bourne series, '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012). Also in 2007, he wrote and directed the film '' Michael Clayton'', which won an Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay, and was nominated for several
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
s including screenplay. In 2009, Gilroy wrote and directed the romantic comedy spy film '' Duplicity'', starring Clive Owen,
Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...
and
Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (born 5 February 1948)Born January–March 1948, according to the ''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is an English actor of film, television, and stage. He has rece ...
. Gilroy was set, along with ''The Bourne Ultimatum'' co-screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, to write the script for the upcoming film ''
Army of Two ''Army of Two'' is a third-person shooter video game series developed by EA Montreal. The first game in the series, ''Army of Two'', was released on March 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Focusing on cooperative strategies, ...
'', based on the video game from
EA Montreal EA Montreal is a Canadian video game development studio owned and operated by Electronic Arts. The studio is based in Montreal, Quebec. It was inaugurated by EA on March 17, 2004. The studio was founded by Alain Tascan a former Ubisoft and BAM! ...
. In September 2013, Gilroy delivered a screenwriting lecture as part of the BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series. In 2018, he received a Distinguished Screenwriter Award from the Austin Film Festival.


Directing

Gilroy's directorial debut was in 2007, when he directed the film '' Michael Clayton'', which his brother John Gilroy edited. The film was nominated for seven
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
s, including
Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
, Best Director and Best Actor. In addition to its Edgar Award, the film won one Oscar, for Best Supporting Actress (
Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition t ...
). The film was a box office success, grossing over $92 million worldwide. He also wrote and directed his next film, '' Duplicity'', released March 20, 2009, and starring Clive Owen,
Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...
and
Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (born 5 February 1948)Born January–March 1948, according to the ''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is an English actor of film, television, and stage. He has rece ...
. He then took over as director of the next entry in the ''Bourne'' series as well as co-writing; the film, '' The Bourne Legacy'', was released August 10, 2012, starring Jeremy Renner,
Rachel Weisz Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970 ) is an English actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a BAFTA Award. Weisz began acting in British stage and television in the ...
,
Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...
,
Joan Allen Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. She began her career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for '' And a Nightingale Sang'', and won the 1988 Tony Aw ...
, and Albert Finney.


Star Wars

In 2016, Gilroy co-wrote the script to the sci-fi war film ''
Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (or simply ''Rogue One'') is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by L ...
'', directed by
Gareth Edwards Sir Gareth Owen Edwards CBE (born 12 July 1947) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to don a Welsh jersey". In 2003, in a poll of international ...
. It is a prequel to the 1977 classic '' Star Wars''. Gilroy shared writing duties with fellow filmmaker
Chris Weitz Christopher John Weitz (born November 30, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Paul on the comedy films '' American Pie'' and '' About a Boy''; the latter earned the Weit ...
. In October 2019, Gilroy returned to the '' Star Wars'' franchise to serve as the showrunner for the
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
political spy drama '' Andor'', taking over from Stephen Schiff. Gilroy wrote five of the twelve episodes in the series' first season and was also originally set to direct multiple episodes. However, Toby Haynes took over as the director of these episodes due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. After multiple delays, ''Andor'' premiered on September 21, 2022, and received widespread critical acclaim.


Filmography


Feature films

Uncredited writing works


Television and web


References


External links

*
Profile in
''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' (March 9, 2009) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilroy, Tony 1956 births Film directors from New York City American male screenwriters Living people Writers from Manhattan Edgar Award winners Boston University College of Communication alumni Film producers from New York (state) American people of German descent American people of Irish descent American writers of Italian descent People from Washingtonville, New York Screenwriters from New York (state) American film directors of Italian descent