Buzz
The phrase 'Based on a true story' often doesn't mean you're getting the full truth. Filmmakers craft stories for entertainment, and they inevitably have to make adjustments for the sake of the narrative. It’s understandable that a film may leave out a few details.
However, those omissions can go beyond minor details. Sometimes, the real-life figures who served as inspiration for iconic movie characters are so different from their on-screen counterparts that they almost seem like opposites.
10. Black Hawk Down: John Stebbins
Every character in the movie Black Hawk Down is named after a real person who participated in the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, with one exception. Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of John Grimes is based on John Stebbins, but his last name was changed to prevent people from searching for him. If they did, they'd discover that the film's hero was actually a convicted child rapist.
In reality, John Stebbins, like his on-screen counterpart, was a courageous figure in Somalia. However, after returning home, he became a completely different, monstrous person. His wife learned the truth five years later when their six-year-old daughter revealed that her father had assaulted her.
Stebbins was arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison for child rape and molestation. This information was known before the film was made, yet they chose to keep him as one of the film's primary heroes, only agreeing to alter his name when the Pentagon requested it.
Stebbins’s ex-wife was outraged. “They’re going to make millions off this film in which my ex-husband is portrayed as an All-America hero,” she said after the movie’s release. “The truth is he is not.”
9. Captain Phillips: Richard Phillips
In the film, Captain Phillips is portrayed as a hero, doing everything he can to protect his crew from Somali pirates who hijack their ship. He risks his life in an attempt to safeguard others. However, the real Captain Phillips, as described by those who know him, doesn’t exactly fit the heroic image.
Phillips’s crew members have referred to him as a “sullen, self-righteous man.” They hold him responsible for the attack by Somali pirates in 2009, believing that his decisions led to the dangerous situation.
Before embarking on the journey, Phillips was specifically warned to be cautious of pirates. He was informed that 16 ships had been attacked by pirates in the last three weeks and advised to avoid getting within 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) of Somalia. He disregarded these warnings and sailed as close as 378 kilometers (235 miles) from the Somali coast.
Despite warnings from his crew to stay out of pirate-controlled waters, Phillips remained resolute, telling them he wouldn’t let pirates intimidate him. When the attack occurred, his crew urged him to follow safety protocol by cutting the power and securing everyone below deck, but Phillips insisted on following his own plan. He ignored both protocol and his crew's advice, staying above deck and ultimately getting captured.
8. Little House On The Prairie: Pa Ingalls
In her beloved series, Laura Ingalls Wilder immortalized her father, Pa Ingalls, as the warm, loving, and ever-dedicated patriarch of their family. The Little House on the Prairie books paint an idyllic picture of simpler, more wholesome times when family values were at the core of life.
It’s possible that the wholesome image is aided by the omission of a rather dark chapter from the 1870s, when Pa assisted in hunting down and executing a family of serial killers.
According to Wilder, the real Pa Ingalls became part of a vigilante posse that tracked down the Bloody Benders, a notorious family responsible for ten murders in Kansas. Her father joined the group, and after their mission, he returned late the next day, offering no details except for the chilling remark, “They will never be found.”
While it’s doubtful that Pa Ingalls actually killed the Bloody Benders, his daughter certainly believed him capable of such an act. So, next time you watch Little House on the Prairie, remember that somewhere in the background is a hidden episode where Pa tracks down and eliminates a serial killer.
7. Deliverance: The Southern Hillbillies
The inspiration behind Deliverance came from an actual canoe trip down South. Much like the events depicted in the movie, writer John Dickey and two companions embarked on a journey through Georgia's rivers. They encountered moonshiners, capsized their canoe in the rapids, and lost one of their friends—but with a few differences in the people they met.
After the canoe mishap, Dickey and his friends encountered the Gentry family, moonshiners who served as the basis for the backwoods rednecks of Deliverance. Unlike the characters in the movie, the Gentrys didn’t force them to squeal like a pig; instead, they attempted to offer assistance.
The real Georgians welcomed Dickey and his companions into their home, offering them water and assisting them in finding their way back safely. They refused any payment, saying helping others was just a natural thing to do.
One of Dickey’s friends, Al Braselton, later remarked on how friendly the people of Georgia were. However, Dickey’s perspective was colored by their casual racism and the constant presence of guns, which overshadowed any feelings of friendliness. He transformed his experience into a story where the family became murderers and rapists, and the people who helped them were depicted as backwoods fools.
6. Crocodile Dundee: Rod Ansell
Although Crocodile Dundee is not strictly based on a true story, it was inspired by a real person. The filmmakers took inspiration from Rod Ansell, who survived 56 days stranded in the Australian outback. The real Crocodile Dundee, however, was not the composed, heroic figure seen in the movie. Rod Ansell was a meth addict who met his end in a police shoot-out.
In 1999, Ansell met his tragic end after getting high on meth and allowing his girlfriend to convince him that Freemasons had kidnapped his son. The couple then went on a rampage across the roads of Darwin, Australia, shouting about Freemasons and shooting at people’s homes.
When a neighbor attempted to investigate what was happening by jumping into his truck, Ansell shot him, causing permanent damage to one of his eyes. He then tried to steal another vehicle, but the owner confronted him with a baseball bat. In response, Ansell grabbed a shotgun from the backseat, shot the owner’s finger off, and fled into the wilderness.
The police found Ansell and attempted to negotiate with him, but a deranged Ansell only shouted, “You’re all dead!” before opening fire. He killed one officer before being shot in the chest himself.
And that is how the true story of Crocodile Dundee concluded: high on meth, gunned down by a police officer as he was reloading his shotgun.
5. Titanic: William Murdoch
When the Titanic collided with the iceberg, Chief Officer William Murdoch was steering the ship. Though he was in charge at that moment, the movie's portrayal doesn’t show him as a villain, which is a misrepresentation of his actions.
In James Cameron's depiction of the Titanic's sinking, Murdoch is shown as losing control. He is depicted as accepting bribes to save wealthy passengers, shooting two men in a panic, and then, overwhelmed by guilt, taking his own life—none of these events actually occurred.
The real William Murdoch spent his final hours heroically rescuing as many people as he could. He went down with the ship, ensuring as many passengers as possible were safely aboard lifeboats. According to a survivor who was saved by him, Murdoch remained calm throughout the chaos, with no sign of the panic shown in the movie.
There is one aspect of the film that was partially accurate: Murdoch did indeed shoot himself. However, this was not the desperate act of a man wracked with guilt. Rather, after ensuring the last person’s safety and with nothing left to do but await his fate, he put the gun to his mouth and resigned himself to what was coming.
12 Years A Slave: William Ford
The first white man to purchase Solomon Northup after he was sold into slavery was William Ford. In the film, Ford is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch as a morally conflicted Christian who espouses strong religious values while benefiting from the oppression of his slaves.
The real William Ford was undoubtedly a slave owner, but according to Solomon Northup, he was as kind as a slave owner could possibly be. Northup described Ford as ‘fortunate was the slave who came to his possession,’ and remarked, ‘Were all men such as he, slavery would be deprived of more than half its bitterness.’
While the movie captured the horrific reality of slavery, Northup noted that some decency could still be found in such dark times. In his view, William Ford embodied this rare humanity, standing as an example of decency amidst the cruelty of slavery.
The Revenant: Hugh Glass
Hugh Glass's life is nothing short of extraordinary. In 1823, after being savagely attacked by a bear, he was abandoned, yet managed to crawl 320 kilometers (200 miles) through the wilderness, driven by one thing—revenge. Every aspect of this story is true, with no embellishments, though the rest of The Revenant is far from accurate.
Unlike the film's portrayal, the real Hugh Glass didn’t have a half-Native American son who was brutally killed, nor did he seek revenge for a blood feud. His sole motivation was his anger over being mauled by a bear and left behind by his comrades who refused to stay and watch him die.
Glass eventually made his way back to Fort Henry with the help of French trappers, who, contrary to the film's depiction as rapists and murderers, were actually the ones who saved his life. Then, just like in the movie, he came face-to-face with John Fitzgerald, the man who had abandoned him, demanding retribution.
But the real story is a bit more anticlimactic. Instead of finally getting his revenge, Glass was told that he wouldn’t be allowed to kill Fitzgerald—and he kind of just said “okay” and left.
And that’s the end of the story. After traveling all that distance and escaping the clutches of death, the real Hugh Glass was just told to let it go, and he went on with his life.
The Imitation Game: Alastair Denniston
In The Imitation Game, Alastair Denniston is portrayed almost as an antagonist. While he's shown as a somewhat lesser villain than Adolf Hitler, he appears to thwart Alan Turing at every step. The film suggests that if Denniston hadn’t existed, Enigma could have been solved in a month, which is far from the truth.
If Alastair Denniston hadn’t existed, Enigma would never have been cracked. He was the one who brought Turing on board, and those working with him described Denniston as the most ‘kindly and dedicated’ person involved in the project. He also played a pivotal role in convincing both the US and Britain to share their intelligence on the code. Had he not achieved that, the code would likely never have been broken.
Even the film's writer has recognized Denniston as 'one of the great heroes of Bletchley Park.' But, of course, movies are more exciting when there's conflict—so Denniston was portrayed as the antagonist.
American Sniper: Chris Kyle
In the film, Chris Kyle is depicted as utterly torn by his actions. American Sniper shows him struggling with the fact that he kills Iraqis for a living. The film portrays him pointing guns at children, pleading with God to guide his actions, and getting angry at his seemingly callous friends for celebrating the kills he’s made.
However, the real Chris Kyle didn’t struggle with his actions in the same way. He described killing people with a sniper rifle as 'fun,' once admitting, 'I hate the damn savages. I couldn’t give a flying f— about the Iraqis.'
And it wasn’t just the Iraqis. The real Chris Kyle faced more challenges when returning home than simply reconnecting with his wife. He claimed that during Hurricane Katrina, the government stationed him on top of the Superdome and ordered him to shoot American citizens with a sniper rifle. According to Kyle, he did just that, killing 30 people.
That story is highly questionable, but Kyle propagated it. By the time he returned from Iraq, he wanted the public to believe he had spent a crisis period targeting and killing American civilians.
