“That was just the beginning”: Kevin McDonald talks about his work in Hollywood at Edinburgh International Film Festival

Director Kevin McDonald was recently present at the 2025 Edinburgh International Film Festival to discuss his career, along with his brother and producer Andrew Macdonald.

The McDonald brothers began their journey in the early 1990s with a short film, which centred around their discussions with several industry executives to fund the Shallow Grave script. Eventually, Andrew produced the project, which marked Danny Boyle's feature directorial debut. That is why the short film about its past is still fondly remembered for its enduring influence.

Years later, the two brothers reunited at this Scottish film festival to discuss their work. Deadline reports that they were the centrepiece at this year's Industry section.

During a conversation with Edinburgh TV Festival head Rowan Woods, Kevin recalled the time and effort put into making the 2009 political crime thriller, State of Play. Kevin McDonald said:

“That was just the beginning of a long, very Hollywood [experience]. A certain kind of wasteful Hollywood filmmaking, where they were trying to make intelligent and good films."

The director also recalls how the film was considered to be a celebrity vehicle for Brad Pitt, but the role eventually went to the Gladiator star Russell Crowe due to some creative differences.

Kevin McDonald discusses State of Play; reminisces about the time when intelligent thrillers were getting funded

'Whitney' Photo Call - 14th Zurich Film Festival - Source: Getty

Kevin McDonald, who directed State of Play, had to go through a long process to get it on the floors. He had already established himself through his Oscar-winning 1999 documentary, One Day in September, and the 2006 film, The Last King of Scotland, which earned Forest Whitaker an Oscar for his lead performance.

With Brad Pitt supposed to lead, the State of Play script was being written by Tony Gilroy, the creator of Star Wars: Andor, who was then known as the writer behind the Bourne film series.

Gilroy's screenplays behind Matt Damon-led spy thrillers were considered important in reshaping the Hollywood model of spycraftian projects. They focused on gritty, naturalistic storytelling as opposed to dazzling gadget-driven ones. Even his 2007 thriller, Michael Clayton, falls in the same lane of films made with a predominantly adult audience in mind. In short, less spoonfeeding or flashiness, more realism.

That's why Gilroy was seen as a top choice for working on the State of Play screenplay. However, it didn't quite pan out as the studios hoped it would. Director Kevin McDonald said:

“I got Tony Gilroy, who was very hot off the back of doing the Bourne films and many other great films. We spent two months in his apartment, rewriting the script, spending untold amounts of money, and then showed it to Brad Pitt, and he hated it.”

Despite these logistical hiccups, Kevin McDonald values what it stands for when compared with the American cinematic landscape at the time. He said:

“I didn’t realize at the time, but looking back, that was a pivotal film in Hollywood, as well as for me, because it was sort of the end [of an era]."

Kevin McDonald fondly recalled this time when studios generously funded similarly intelligent thrillers while casting A-listers like Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, and Jason Bateman. He stated:

“Donna Langley mentioned it too when she did Desert Island Discs. It was a turning point movie for her at Universal and the rest of Hollywood because it was conceived as an all-star, intelligent thriller for adults at $100 million. Can you imagine that today?”

Love movies? Try our Box Office Game and Movie Grid Game to test your film knowledge and have some fun!

Comment

Edited by Amey Mirashi