Dan Gilroy can't say "melancholy" right and Jake Gyllenhaal is getting pissed
Dan Gilroy was nominated for an Academy Award in 2015 for Nightcrawler, a gripping, pitch-black evisceration of Hollywood exploitation. As such, we can forgive him for being unable to say the word “melancholy” correctly. Frequent collaborator Jake Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, might not be so gracious.
Gilroy and Gyllenhaal are currently at the Sundance Film Festival promoting the premiere of Velvet Buzzsaw, a loony, gallery-set slasher that might just weave a touch of “meh-lonk-o-lee” into the horror. “It’s melancholy, Dan,” Gyllenhaal says, his face a cloak of weary resignation at the thought of “melancholy” being pronounced like it’s a game on Price Is Right. Eyes rolling into the back of his head, he assures us that this was “not the first time today” Gilroy made this particular mispronunciation.
Perhaps the best part, though, is the reaction of actress Rene Russo, Gilroy’s wife and, one can assume, frequent witness to his myriad “meh-lonk-o-lees.” She seems to anticipate the gaffe as Gilroy speaks, then, upon hearing it, collapses into the kind of laughter that can only be accompanied by a head shake of disbelief. Hey, even celebrities get embarrassed by their spouses from time to time.
Velvet Buzzsaw hits Netflix on Friday.