Andor creator Tony Gilroy

Episode notes

(Photo: Daniel Speer)

In a career that’s spanned 3 decades, Tony Gilroy’s made a habit out of playing it safe. He’s said it himself. Tony, who’s a writer, director and showrunner, comes from a showbiz family. He has one brother who’s a director, another who’s an editor and his dad, Frank Gilroy, was a Tony and Pulitzer-winning playwright and filmmaker.

At first, Tony didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of his father’s career. He originally wanted to pursue music with thoughts of becoming a studio musician or something straight forward like that. 

Tony eventually realized his calling was in movies and television. He stayed small getting the occasional screenplay produced, but was just as happy to do a punch up. At age fifty, he directed his first feature film: the instant classic Michael Clayton. Tony also wrote a bunch of the Bourne movies, and he was called upon to rewrite and direct reshoots for the Star Wars movie Rogue One. 

Tony’s most recent work continues in the Star Wars universe. He’s the creator of Andor, the Disney + series about what happened before Rogue One. The show is currently in its second season. 

Tony joins us to talk about Andor, and what makes it so different than any other Star Wars program. He also chats with us about what’s next for him after the show ends, and how he came very close to becoming a professional musician.