Interview: Tony Gilroy & Jon Hamm – Brad Anderson’s Beirut | 2018 Sundance Film Festival

Foreign diplomacy thriller Beirut might have been an unusual, counter-programming choice made by Sundance programmers, but it was the right project match and three person pairing for Tony Gilroy, Brad Anderson and Jon Hamm. Scribe Tony Gilroy previously wrote Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Michael Clayton and the “Bourne” movies—including the underrated The Bourne Legacy (which he also directed). Gilroy’s script possesses political urgency; his best writing comes from a keen understanding of history and when matched with Anderson’s gritty and no-holds-barred style, it made for a taut thriller.
Jon Hamm stars, likable as ever, playing Mason Skiles (the requisite American diplomat Bond-character). However: instead of kung-fu or sharpshooting skills, Hamm’s power is peacemaking. Beirut marks a significant departure from Hamm’s wheelhouse, but not a bad one—Hamm may well have a future as an action hero. I met up with the Gilroy and Hamm prior to the world premiere screening.
Dylan Kai Dempsey is a New York-based writer/filmmaker. His reviews have been published in Vanity Fair, Variety, No Film School, Nonfiction.fr and IONCINEMA.com. He’s also developing a graphic novel as well as his own award-winning pilot script, #Likes4Lucas. He began as a development intern at Bonafide Productions in L.A. and Rainmark Productions in London.
He wasn’t the first and certainly will not be the last to launch big at Sundance...
With a fascinating professional roadmap as a filmmaker, choreographer and teaching artist, Sarah Friedland is set...
The symbiotic relationship between Mel Eslyn and Mark Duplass is akin to the dynamic between Mario...
Not unlike how a young Athina Rachel Tsangari ended up being part of a Richard Linklater...
Taking home the Jury Prize at the 2023 Berlinale, Portuguese auteur João Canijo‘s latest Bad Living...