Gillian Flynn | |
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.jpg) Flynn at the 52ndNew York Film Festival, September 2014 | |
| Born | (1971-02-24)February 24, 1971 (age 54) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Alma mater | |
| Period | 2007–present |
| Genre | |
| Notable works | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | |
| gillian-flynn | |
Gillian Schieber Flynn[1][2][3] (/ˈɡɪliən/;[4] born February 24, 1971) is an Americanauthor,screenwriter, and producer, best known for herthriller andmystery novelsSharp Objects (2006),Dark Places (2009), andGone Girl (2012).[5] Her works have been translated into 40 languages[citation needed], and by 2016,Gone Girl had sold over 15 million copies worldwide.[6]
Flynn was born inKansas City, Missouri, and grew up in theColeman Highlands neighborhood.[7][8] Both of her parents were educators: her mother, Judith Ann (née Schieber), was a reading-comprehension professor, and her father, Edwin Matthew Flynn, taught film.[8][9][10][11] Flynn has an older brother, Travis, who works as a railroad machinist.[8] She has described herself as a “painfully shy” child, finding refuge in reading and writing.[8] Her interest in storytelling was further cultivated by her father's love of horror films.[8][9]
As a young woman, Flynn worked assorted jobs, including selling honey-baked ham and giving out yoghurt samples in the mall, dressed as "a tuxedo-clad cone."[12][13] She attendedBishop Miege High School,[8] graduating in 1989,[13] and went on to earn undergraduate degrees in English and journalism from theUniversity of Kansas.[14]
After spending two years in California writing at a trade magazine forhuman resources professionals, Flynn moved to Chicago and attendedNorthwestern University’sMedill School of Journalism, where she completed a master’s degree in 1997.[13][15][16] Initially aspiring to become a crime reporter, she ultimately chose to pursue a career in creative writing.[17][18]
After graduating from Northwestern, Flynn worked freelance briefly atU.S. News & World Report before joiningEntertainment Weekly in 1998 as a feature writer,[8] eventually becoming atelevision critic.[8][18] She was made redundant in December 2008.[19][20][21] Flynn credits her years in journalism with helping to hone her writing skills, stating that journalism taught her the discipline of writing without waiting for inspiration. She said, “I could not have written a novel if I hadn’t been a journalist first, because it taught me that there’s nomuse that’s going to come down and bestow upon you the mood to write. You just have to do it. I’m definitely not precious.”[22]
Flynn's portrayal of complex, morally ambiguous, and often unflattering female characters has drawn criticism from some critics, who have accused her ofmisogyny.[5] However, Flynn identifies as afeminist,[5] and has defended her choice to write female characters who defy conventional expectations of women as inherently nurturing or morally virtuous.[23] She states, “the one thing that really frustrates me is this idea that women are innately good, innately nurturing.” To her, people will dismiss “trampy, vampy, bitchy types – but there’s still a big pushback against the idea that women can be just pragmatically evil, bad, and selfish.”[5]
In 2021, Flynn was appointed to lead a new book imprint – Gillian Flynn Books[24] – for the independent publisherZando.[25] As of 2024, she was working on her fourth novel, to be published byPenguin Random House.[26]
As of 2025, Flynn had published three novels and one short story.
While working atEntertainment Weekly,[10] she wrote her first novel,Sharp Objects (2006), apsychological thriller about a reporter investigating a series of murders in her hometown. Partly inspired byDennis Lehane’sMystic River,[27] the book was shortlisted for theMystery Writers of America’sEdgar for Best First Novel, and won theCrime Writers’ Association’s New Blood andIan Fleming Steel Dagger.[15]Sharp Objects received positive reviews,[28] and was later adapted into a celebrated2018 television miniseries starringAmy Adams.[29][30]
Flynn's second novel,Dark Places (2009), follows a woman who begins to question whether her incarcerated brother was truly responsible for the murder of their family during theSatanic panic era of the 1980s, when she was a child. The novel garnered positive reviews,[5] though its2015 feature film adaptation, starringCharlize Theron,[31] was criticized as "dull"[32] and "implausible."[33][34] Flynn made acameo appearance in the film.[35] As of 2024, Flynn is developing a limited series forHBO based on the book, where she will serve as co-creator, writer, and co-showrunner.[36]
Her third novel,Gone Girl (2012), centers on Nick Dunne, a small-townMissouricreative writing professor, and his wifeAmy Elliott, who mysteriously disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary.Gone Girl received widespread acclaim from literary critics[37] and toppedThe New York Times Bestseller list for eight weeks,[38] with over two million copies sold by the end of 2012.[38] Flynn adapted the novel into a successful2014 film directed byDavid Fincher,[39] starringBen Affleck andRosamund Pike.[40]
Flynn's short storyThe Grownup won theEdgar Award for Best Short Story.[41] Originally published under the titleWhat Do You Do? in the 2014 anthologyRogues, edited byGeorge R. R. Martin andGardner Dozois, it was later released as a standalone publication in 2015. The narrative follows a sex worker turned fake psychic, hired by a woman to cleanse her Victorian home, which is troubled by a deteriorating marriage and a disturbing stepson.[42]
An avid reader of comic and graphic novels when she was a child,[43] Flynn collaborated with illustratorDave Gibbons and wrote a comic book short story calledMasks.[44] Part of the anthology seriesDark Horse Presents, it was published byDark Horse Comics in February 2015.[45]
AlongsideMarti Noxon, Flynn co-wrote and served as an executive producer forHBO’s2018 adaptation ofSharp Objects,[46][47]for which she received nominations for thePrimetime Emmy and theWriters Guild of America Award.
In 2014, it was announced that Flynn would write the scripts for anHBO adaptation of the British seriesUtopia.[48] Initially, the HBO series was to be directed and executive produced byDavid Fincher, but budget issues between Fincher and the network led to its cancellation in 2015.[49] The project was later revived byAmazon, which ordered it to series with a 2020 release. Flynn wrote all eight episodes and served as the project'sshowrunner.[50]Utopia premiered onPrime Video on September 25, 2020,[51] drawing mixed reviews.[52] The series was canceled in November 2020 after one season.[53]
Flynn wrote the screenplay for the2014 film adaptation ofGone Girl, directed byDavid Fincher, for which she won theCritics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay[54] and which was nominated for theWriters Guild of America awards,[55] as well as theGolden Globe, andBAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
She also co-wrote, along with filmmakerSteve McQueen, thefilm adaptation of theITV seriesWidows,[56] StarringViola Davis,Elizabeth Debicki,Michelle Rodriguez,Cynthia Erivo,Colin Farrell,Brian Tyree Henry,Daniel Kaluuya, andLiam Neeson. The film was released in November 2018 to high praise from movie critics.[57]
Flynn is working on her fourth novel, which is set to be published byPenguin Random House.[58] As discussed in theChanel Connects podcast in June 2022, Flynn is currently writing the film adaptation for her short story,The Grownup.[59]
She is also developing a limited series for HBO based on her novelDark Places.[60] Flynn retains the rights to the novel, withBrett Johnson and Guerrin Gardner joining her as co-showrunners, co-creators, and writers.[36] Furthermore, she is collaborating withTim Burton on a remake ofNathan H. Juran’s classicAttack of the 50 Foot Woman film forWarner Bros.[61]
Flynn married lawyer Brett Nolan in 2007, having met him during graduate school at Northwestern.[62][63] Their relationship developed in their thirties.[22] They have two children: their son, Flynn, born in 2010,[10] and their daughter, Veronica, born in 2014.[64] The family resides in Chicago.[5][65]
The outrages and allegations flash through my brain like a nasty, ludicrous slide show of twisted male power.
The Turn of the Screw is one of the most chilling ghost stories ever, largely because it is so deliciously elusive.
In the late eighties, my job involved going out in public dressed as a tuxedoed dairy product. Children ran from me.
I was not a nice little girl. My favorite summertime hobby was stunning ants and feeding them to spiders. My preferred indoor diversion was a game called Mean Aunt Rosie, in which I pretended to be a witchy caregiver and my cousins tried to escape me.
Let me give you an idea of my personal aesthetic: Until last year, I had no purse. I carried a wine bag.
| Year | Title | Credited as | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Producer | Notes | |||
| 2014 | Gone Girl | Yes | No | Directed byDavid Fincher | |
| 2018 | Widows | Yes | No | Co-writer with directorSteve McQueen | |
| Year | Title | Credited as | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Executive producer | Creator | Showrunner | Notes | ||
| 2018 | Sharp Objects | Yes | Yes | No | No | Network:HBO |
| 2020 | Utopia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Network:Amazon Prime Video |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Crime Writers’ Association | Gold Dagger | Sharp Objects | Shortlisted | |
| Crime Writers’ Association | Ian Fleming Steel Dagger | Won | |||
| Crime Writers’ Association | New Blood Dagger | Won | |||
| Mystery Writers of America | Edgar Award for Best First Novel | Shortlisted | [67] | ||
2009 | Crime Writers’ Association | Ian Fleming Steel Dagger | Dark Places | Shortlisted | |
2010 | Dark Scribe magazine | Dark Genre Novel of the Year | Won | [68] | |
2013 | Mystery Writers of America | Edgar Award for Best Novel | Gone Girl | Shortlisted | |
| Women's Prize for Fiction | Women's Prize for Fiction | Longlisted | [69] | ||
2015 | Mystery Writers of America | Edgar Award for Best Short Story | The Grownup | Won | [70] |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Austin Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Gone Girl | Won | [71] |
| Awards Circuit Community Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Black Film Critics Circle Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Chicago Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Florida Film Critics Circle Award | Screenwriter of the Year Award | Won | |||
| IndieWire Critics Poll | Best Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Golden Schmoes Award | Best Screenplay of the Year | Won | |||
| Hollywood Film Award | Best Screenplay | Won | |||
| NewNowNext Award | Best New Screenwriter | Won | |||
| Online Film Critics Society Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Phoenix Critics Circle Award | Best Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Phoenix Film Critics Society Award | Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium | Won | |||
| San Diego Film Critics Society Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Screenwriters Choice Awards, Online | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Southeastern Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| St. Louis Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
2015 | |||||
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award | Best Woman Screenwriter | Won | |||
| Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay | Won | ||||
| BAFTA Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Cinema Bloggers Award, Portugal | Best Screenplay | Won | |||
| Critics’ Choice Movie Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Denver Film Critics Society Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Georgia Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Gold Derby Award | Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Italian Online Movie Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| International Cinephile Society Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| International Online Cinema Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| North Carolina Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | |||
| Online Film & Television Association Award | Best Feature Debut | Won | |||
| Satellite Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| Seattle Film Critics Society Award | Best Screenplay, Adapted | Nominated | |||
| USC Scripter Award | USC Scripter Award | Nominated | |||
| Writers Guild of America Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
2018 | Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Widows | Nominated | [72] |
| Online Association of Female Film Critics Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| St. Louis Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
2019 | Black Reel Award | Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original | Nominated | ||
| Columbus Film Critics Association Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
| London Critics Circle Film Award | Screenwriter of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Online Film Critics Society Award | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |||
2020 | Gold Derby Award | Best Screenplay of the Decade | Gone Girl | Nominated | [71] |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Gotham Independent Film Award | Breakthrough Series – Long Form | Sharp Objects | Nominated | [73] |
| USC Scripter Award | USC Scripter Award(shared withMarti Noxon; for the episode “Vanish”) | Nominated | |||
2019 | Producers Guild of America Award | Best Limited Series Television | Nominated | ||
| Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series | Nominated | |||
| Writers Guild of America Award for Television Award | Long Form – Adapted | Nominated |
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