Tony Gilroy

Early life

Gilroy was born in Manhattan, 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. He is the brother of screenwriter Dan Gilroy 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. He graduated from Washingtonville High School in 1974 at 16 years old and attended Boston University 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 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, the highest-grossing film of 1998. Gilroy's next script was Proof of Life 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 Awards including screenplay. In 2009, Gilroy wrote and directed the romantic comedy spy film Duplicity, starring Clive Owen, Julia Roberts and Tom Wilkinson. Gilroy was set, along with The Bourne Ultimatum co-screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, to write the script for the upcoming film Army of Two, based on the video game from EA Montreal.

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 Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. In addition to its Edgar Award, the film won one Oscar, for Best Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton). 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 and Tom Wilkinson. 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, Edward Norton, Joan Allen, and Albert Finney.

Star Wars

In 2016, Gilroy co-wrote the script to the sci-fi war film Rogue One, directed by Gareth Edwards. It is a prequel to the 1977 film Star Wars. Gilroy shared writing duties with fellow filmmaker Chris Weitz.

In October 2019, Gilroy returned to the Star Wars franchise to serve as the showrunner for the Disney+ 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. Its first season received a total of eight Emmy nominations, including a nomination for the best drama series and nods for writing, directing, cinematography and musical score. The second season received fourteen nominations in 2025, winning for five, including Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, awarded to Gilroy's brother Dan for the episode "Welcome to the Rebellion".

Post-''Andor'' work

In March 2025, it was reported that Tony Gilroy was shopping a new feature film he would write and direct, starring Oscar Isaac. The film, titled Behemoth!, was acquired by Searchlight Pictures and is set to star Pedro Pascal (replacing Isaac), Eva Victor, and Olivia Wilde.{{Cite web |last=Sneider |first=Jeff|date=June 11, 2025|title=Exclusive: Tony Gilroy’s 'Behemoth!' Lands at Searchlight as Broken Lizard's 'Super Troopers 3' Heats Up

Filmography

Feature films

Uncredited writing works

Television

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

References

1. (2010-01-01). "Encyclopaedia Britannica Almanac 2010". Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc..
2. Couch, Aaron. (2018-04-05). "Tony Gilroy on ‘Rogue One’ Reshoots: They Were in “Terrible Trouble”".
3. "Frank D. Gilroy Biography (1925-)".
4. "Tony Gilroy Biography ((?)-)".
5. [[Frank D. Gilroy]]
6. McKnight, Dale. (February 2010). "Making the Grade: Examining the Valley's High Schools".
7. Lussier, Germain. (January 23, 2008). "7 Oscar nominations for Washingtonville's Tony Gilroy and 'Michael Clayton'". recordonline.com.
8. (October 12, 2007). "'Michael Clayton' starring George Clooney, Blooming Grove, Moodna Viaduct and a directorial debut by Washingtonville grad Tony Gilroy". [[Times Herald-Record]].
9. Max, D.T.. (March 16, 2009). "Twister".
10. Feeney, Mark. (October 7, 2007). "Writer's move to director goes according to script". The Boston Globe.
11. "The Edgar Allan Poe Awards". Bookreporter.com.
12. (September 29, 2013). "Tony Gilroy Delivers his BAFTA Screenwriters' Lecture". BAFTA.
13. (October 28, 2018). "2018 Winners".
14. Otterson, Joe. (October 15, 2019). "'Rogue One' Writer Tony Gilroy Joins Cassian Andor 'Star Wars' Series at Disney Plus (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
15. Kroll, Justin. (September 22, 2020). "'Black Mirror's Toby Haynes To Direct 'Rogue One' Spin-Off Series at Disney+ As Tony Gilroy Steps Aside As Director".
16. (17 August 2023). "'Andor': Inside the Making of a Perfect 'Star Wars' Episode". [[Condé Nast]].
17. Sneider, Jeff. (March 21, 2025). "Exclusive: Tony Gilroy Shopping New Film 'Behemoth!' Starring Oscar Isaac".
18. Kroll, Justin. (August 8, 2025). "Pedro Pascal Circling Tony Gilroy’s Next Film ‘Behemoth!’ As The Project Lands At Searchlight".
19. (November 28, 2014). "''Enemy of the State'' (1998)". Motion State Review.
20. "UPDATED!! As Casting Continues, So Do The Rewrites?? RED DAWN Has A Promising New Writer".
21. (3 August 2016). "‘Rogue One’ Drama: Writer Tony Gilroy Taking on More Duties".
22. (April 7, 2021). "''The Woman in the Window'': Tony Gilroy Was Brought in to Write the Reshoots on the Amy Adams Thriller".