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New Yorker Article on Tony Gilroy

The writer/director who made a splash with Michael Clayton gets the full New Yorker profile:

“Cut!” Gilroy cries. “That look is so strong,” he says to [Julia] Roberts. “That was great. That revealed a lot. Great.” Roberts, who has already done several versions of this scene, is clearly exhausted. “My mojo’s gone,” she says. She also has the flu and an ear infection. The cast began filming at 4 A.M., outside the Pantheon. Gilroy assures her, “Even at quarter speed, you’re still a thoroughbred.” Roberts sits in her folding chair and removes her espadrilles; someone’s hands take them from her. She sees the kids still playing with their soccer ball and adopts a mock-Chekhovian tone: “Oh, to be young and play in the heat and do it over and over and not complain about water or time or last looks.” She turns to Gilroy: “O.K., I’ve come up with something that’s really going to rock your world.”

“I need an after-lunch pick-me-up,” he says.

“Coming up.”

“Let it rip!”

They shoot the scene once more. The children chase the soccer ball again; Roberts looks over her shoulder again, this time more subtly. The viewer is supposed to wonder, What, exactly, is she looking for?

“Cut! Print that!” Gilroy is pleased. The actors and crew mill. Everyone avoids eye contact with Gilroy; one can read the hope on their faces. “Let’s do it one more time,” he says.

--Onward and Upward with the Arts: Twister: How Tony Gilroy surprises jaded moviegoers

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.