Duncan Jones Says Dad David Bowie Told Him The Gender Of His New Baby
On the one-month anniversary of the death of his father, David Bowie, Warcraft director Duncan Jones took to Twitter to announce he’s about to become a dad for the first time. He posted a picture of the card he gave the rock icon at Christmastime with the caption, “Love you, granddad.”
This week, while on a press junket for his new film, he told E! Online that Bowie also told Jones and his wife Rodene Ronquillo the gender of their baby, due in June. The couple had the doctor write the gender on the back of a card and asked Bowie to read it to them later. In the same interview, Jones revealed that he and his father were able to have family time before the rock icon’s death.
Jones told Extra he assumed the birth of his own child would hit him emotionally when it happens.
“[W]e got to spend a little quality time before he passed away. When the baby is born, I think I’ll be a wreck.”
His entry into first-time fatherhood will occur just as Warcraft, his epic film, hits theaters in the United States.
While the director lost his dad to cancer, it wasn’t the first time he’d helped a loved one through the illness. Rodene was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in late 2012. The couple ended up voting in the November election and getting married the same day as Rodene had surgery. By October 2013, she was free of the disease, but Bowie was diagnosed with cancer a few short months later, according to Us Weekly. The announcement of Bowie’s death stated he had battled cancer for 18 months.
Bowie, who was an actor and artist as well as a musician, saw some early cuts of Warcraft before his passing. Jones told Extra he had a positive reaction to the work, and Duncan knows that his father would approve of the film’s final version.
“I think he’d be proud [of the final cut], I know he’d be proud, I got to show him some early stuff we were working on, the special effects, got to show him the close ups on Durotan and stuff and he was amazed at what we were doing.”
Jones told Associated Press that he was influenced by his dad artistically, especially the time he spent with his dad on film sets as a child. He claims to have inherited none of Bowie’s musical talent, but Bowie’s legendary ability to change styles and move through different projects is reflected in Jones’ own style of working.
“I think as much on the creativity level — his bravery and willingness to try stuff that other people weren’t expecting.”
“I did two science-fiction films and then jumped into a video game movie, and now I’m going to go from this behemoth to another tiny, little indie. So just doing what feels right at the moment on a creative level is certainly something I got from him.”
The director’s previous works include the critical successes Moon and Source Code. Warcraft is based on the long-running online role-playing game focusing on orcs and humans.
Collider posted screen shots of the new film and praised its bold look. The Universal-backed epic combines special effects with performances by actors including Paula Patton, Travis Fimmel, Dominic Cooper, Ben Foster, and Toby Kebbell.
Warcraft opens wide on June 10, but debuts in some international markets on May 25.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
