'Fly Me to the Moon': Rose Gilroy embraces her family's legacy

Rose Gilroy, daughter of Dan Gilroy and Rene Russo, and niece of Tony and John Gilroy, initially resisted the pull of the family's show business legacy.

She explored pre-med and pre-law paths in college, but ultimately found her true calling in writing.

After graduating from Colgate University in 2016, she briefly pursued modelling before embracing her innate talent for storytelling. With a Pulitzer and Tony-winning grandfather, Frank D. Gilroy, it seems the writing was always in her destiny.

Gilroy began writing scripts, including the psychological thriller The Pack, which is currently in development with Alexander Skarsgård set to direct and star.

Her writing samples, including a sci-fi script, caught the attention of Scarlett Johansson's production company, These Pictures, led by Johansson, Keenan Flynn, and Jonathan Lia.

They met with Gilroy and pitched her the concept for Fly Me to the Moon (then titled Project Artemis), a story centred around faking the 1969 Moon landing footage for television, using real audio from the Apollo 11 mission.

The comedy/drama set in NASA immediately captured Gilroy's attention, but despite her perseverance and lack of professional experience, her lack of WGA membership became a roadblock. In a desperate attempt, she decided to take the risk and place a wager on herself.

“Ultimately, I was really green and not in the guild, so [These Pictures] were like, ‘We like your stuff, but this is such a gamble,’” Gilroy told The Hollywood Reporter.

“So I wrote the first 15 pages on spec with their pitch, and I won the job that way. We then spent years developing it internally just with Scarlett’s company before she even took it out.”

Initially, Scarlett Johansson intended to produce Fly Me to the Moon without starring in it, but she was so captivated by Gilroy's script drafts and her ability to incorporate feedback that she couldn't resist the opportunity to play the lead role of Kelly Jones.

Gilroy's character is a complex blend of Don Draper's charisma, Saul Goodman's wit, and Kim Wexler's determination. Johansson was so impressed that she decided to take on the role, leaving Gilroy thrilled and grateful for the vote of confidence.