Dan Gilroy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dan Gilroy
Gilroy at Fantastic Fest 2014
Born	Daniel Christopher Gilroy (1959-06-24) June 24, 1959 (age 66) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Dartmouth College (BA)
Occupation	Screenwriter, film director
Years active	1992–present
Spouse(s)	Rene Russo (m. 1992)
Children	1
Parents	Frank D. Gilroy (father) Ruth Dorothy Gaydos (mother)
Relatives	Tony Gilroy (brother) John Gilroy (twin brother)

Daniel Christopher Gilroy (born June 24, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director. He has won an Emmy award for his writing. He is famous for writing and directing the movie Nightcrawler (2014). For this film, he won an award for best screenplay and was nominated for an Oscar.

Dan Gilroy has also written many other movies. These include Freejack (1992), Two for the Money (2005), The Fall (2006), Real Steel (2011), and The Bourne Legacy (2012). He wrote The Bourne Legacy with his brother, Tony Gilroy. His wife, Rene Russo, is an actress and has worked with him on several projects. In 2025, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his writing on the second season of the TV series Andor.

Early Life and Education

Dan Gilroy was born on June 24, 1959, in Santa Monica, California. His father, Frank D. Gilroy, was a famous playwright who won a Pulitzer Prize. His mother, Ruth Dorothy Gaydos, was a sculptor and writer.

Gilroy's parents Frank (left) and Ruth in 1974

Dan has two brothers. Tony Gilroy is also a screenwriter and director. His twin brother, John, is a film editor. Dan remembers that seeing his father work at home made becoming a writer seem less complicated.

Gilroy grew up in Washingtonville, New York. He went to Washingtonville High School. In 1981, he graduated from Dartmouth College. He studied English literature there, just like his father did. At college, he became very interested in books from the Victorian era. He especially liked authors like Charles Dickens and George Eliot.

Starting a Career in Writing

Writing Novels

Dan Gilroy's first novel was a mystery book called Sight Unseen. It was published in 1989. The story is about a government analyst who finds a sunken submarine. A reviewer from The New York Times said it was a "clever" and "never dull" book.

Writing for Movies

Gilroy began writing for movies by co-writing the science fiction thriller Freejack (1992). He worked with Steven Pressfield and Ronald Shusett on this film. While working on Freejack, he met the actress Rene Russo, who was in the movie. They got married later that year.

After Freejack, he wrote for other films. These included Chasers (1994), Two for the Money (2005), and The Fall (2006). A famous movie critic, Roger Ebert, praised Two for the Money. He said the story was about three people whose lives change as a risky situation unfolds.

Dan Gilroy also co-wrote Real Steel (2011) with Jeremy Leven. This movie was about robots fighting. He then co-wrote The Bourne Legacy (2012) with his brother Tony. His twin brother, John, edited the film. Some critics felt this movie had too much talking and not enough action.

Directing His Own Films

In 2014, Dan Gilroy directed his first movie, Nightcrawler. This is called his directorial debut. He also wrote the script for the film. The movie starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, and Riz Ahmed.

Gilroy got the idea for Nightcrawler in 1988 after seeing a photo-book called Naked City. He started writing the script when he moved to Los Angeles. He noticed many violent stories on TV news there. Gilroy sees the film as a success story about a modern photographer. It is also a story that warns about some dangers of a competitive society.

Nightcrawler was very popular with critics. Gilroy's script was nominated for an Oscar. He also won the Best Screenplay award at the 30th Independent Spirit Awards. In his acceptance speech, he talked about how many superhero movies were being made in Hollywood.

In 2017, he co-wrote the adventure movie Kong: Skull Island. He also wrote and directed Roman J. Israel, Esq., a legal drama starring Denzel Washington. Gilroy got the idea for Roman J. Israel after doing a lot of research about the 1960s. This was a time when many Americans strongly spoke up for people's rights. He wrote the main role specifically for Denzel Washington.

After the movie first showed at a film festival, Gilroy made it shorter. He cut thirteen minutes to help the story move faster. While Denzel Washington's acting was praised, Gilroy's script got mixed reviews from critics.

Recent Projects

From 2022 to 2025, Gilroy was a writer for the popular Star Wars series Andor. His brother Tony created the show. Dan wrote three episodes for each of the two seasons. He won his Emmy award for writing an episode in Season 2.

In April 2025, it was announced that Gilroy is writing a Miami Vice film. This movie will be a new version of the Miami Vice story. It follows the original television series and 2006 film.

Other Creative Work

Gilroy was hired by director Tim Burton to rewrite a Superman movie script. He made changes to help with the budget and character development before the movie was canceled. Gilroy later appeared in a documentary about this project. In 2011, he was also set to write a movie based on the comic strip The Annihilator.

Family Life

Gilroy lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Rene Russo. They have been married since 1992. They have a daughter named Rose.

Filmography

Film

Producer

• Magazine Dreams (2025)

TV writer

See also

In Spanish: Dan Gilroy para niños