An ice skating princess falls from grace after an ill-conceived attack on a competitor in Director Craig Gillespie’s new darkly comic biography, I, Tonya.
Based on the unbelievable, but true events, Gillespie’s film tells the story of how rising star Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) went from being the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, to criminal suspect and pariah after her ex-husband orchestrates an infamous attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan at the National Figure Skating Championship in 1994.
Following the DGA membership screening in New York on December 6, Gillespie sat down with Director Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) to discuss the making of I, Tonya. Gillespie also spoke about the film in a conversation moderated by Director Sascha Gervasi (November Criminals) following the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on December 9.
In addition to I, Tonya, Gillespie’s credits include the feature films The Finest Hours, Million Dollar Arm, Fright Night, Lars and the Real Girl, Mr. Woodcock; the movie for television Trooper; and the pilot episodes of the series My Generation and United States of Tara. He has been nominated four times for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement Commercials and took home the award for his 2006 commercials “Surprise Dinner” and “Mini-Mart” (Ameriquest) and “People of Pain” and “Fable of the Fruit Bat” (Altoids). Gillespie has been a DGA member since 1996.
You can listen to Gillespie's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.