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From paralegals to prison escapees, these everyday individuals became the stuff of cinematic legend! Join us as we explore the real people who inspired blockbuster films. Our countdown includes the real-life figures behind "Erin Brockovich," "The Blind Side," "50 First Dates," "The Big Lebowski," "Hotel Rwanda" and many more extraordinary true stories!
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00:00I only got one plan rating.
00:03That would be Alaska.
00:06Alaska.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for real people who were not
00:11widely known public figures when they influenced a successful biopic or fictional film character.
00:17Hit documentaries like Hoop Dreams are not included.
00:19He was never convinced what he was doing was the right thing to do.
00:23But overall, he had a good career.
00:26Number 20. Michael Orr and the Twoies, The Blind Side.
00:30In 2004, Sean and Leigh-Anne Toohey were more local celebrities in Memphis for their lucrative
00:34entrepreneurship.
00:35Their boldest investment was a good-natured teenager whom they raised from poverty into a promising
00:39athletic career.
00:40Michael Lewis wrote about this in a book, which was adapted into a film the year Michael Orr
00:44was drafted into the NFL.
00:45Tony, here's your quarterback, alright?
00:47You protect his blind side.
00:49When you look at him, you think of me.
00:51How you have my back.
00:52How you have his.
00:53Okay?
00:54The Blind Side became a massive hit, winning Sandra Bullock an Oscar for her portrayal of
00:58Leigh-Anne.
00:58However, the film was criticized for its offensively inaccurate white savior narrative, even by Orr
01:03himself.
01:03Orr says the Twoies gave away the rights to his life story for The Blind Side, while they
01:07profited.
01:08Now he wants the money he believes he's owed.
01:11In 2023, he sued the Twoies to dissolve his conservatorship, alleging that they exploited
01:15him for fame and profit.
01:16Whether that was their intention, the results are undeniable.
01:19The Twoie family attorney speaking out tonight, disputing the former NFL player's accusation
01:24that he was tricked into making the Twoies his conservators in 2004, instead of being
01:29adopted.
01:29Number 19, Billy Hayes, Midnight Express.
01:32Reckless youth of Billy Hayes ended with an incident that gained global attention.
01:36In 1970, the 23-year-old American drug smuggler was captured in Turkey and sentenced to four
01:41years in Istanbul's Sagmausler prison.
01:43I'd hoped somehow to get out of this quickly so that you'd never have to know about it.
01:50But that just isn't possible now.
01:54I don't know what's going to happen.
01:56The brutal conditions, as well as Turkish and American authorities' denial of an early
01:59release for good behavior, prompted Hayes to escape.
02:02He then fled the country and wrote Midnight Express with William Hoffer.
02:05The book was quickly adapted into an acclaimed film, cited as the breakout of Oscar-winning
02:09screenwriter Oliver Stone and Golden Globe-winning actor Brad Davis.
02:13I love you.
02:15Oh, Billy.
02:21I love you.
02:23It's also cited in discourse surrounding the ethics of America's war on drugs.
02:27Meanwhile, Hayes has turned his life around as an actor, writer, and public speaker.
02:30Every city that the film has opened in has created controversy.
02:33The Turkish government has officially protested the opening.
02:36Every city has been in.
02:37Number 18, Chris McCandless, Into the Wild.
02:39A champion for adventure became a cautionary figure in 1992.
02:44After traveling from Virginia to Alaska, 24-year-old Chris McCandless was found dead in a bus abandoned
02:49in the woods, officially of starvation.
02:51This tragedy, as well as journal entries written under the pseudonym Alexander Supertramp,
03:06were the subject of an article and a best-selling book by John Krakauer.
03:10Sean Penn directed and wrote the adaptation of Into the Wild with Emile Hirsch in his breakout role.
03:14The film earned such high praise that many fans risked even lost their lives to find the sight of McCandless's death.
03:31The bus was thus moved to a museum in 2020, with Into the Wild being more commemorative of the beauty of life and wonderlust.
03:36Number 17, Penny Ann Trumbull, Almost Famous
03:50Music journalist-turned-filmmaker Cameron Crowe's travels with Led Zeppelin,
03:54the Allman Brothers Band, and Eagles were the basis for the cult classic Almost Famous.
03:59Of course, everyone wanted to know the true identity of Penny Lane.
04:02This mysterious band-aid was a composite of several groupies.
04:05Crowe befriended, particularly Penny Ann Trumbull of the Flying Garter Girls.
04:09At this time, please extinguish all smoking materials.
04:13For the captain has turned on the no smoking sign.
04:17Your seats and tray tables should be locked and in their full upright position.
04:23She was a legend in the 70s rock touring scene under the nickname Penny Lane,
04:26before finding more understated success as a businesswoman.
04:29She nonetheless praised Almost Famous for immortalizing her with Kate Hudson's iconic,
04:34Golden Globe-winning performance.
04:36There are real problems in the band, off the record.
04:39What problems?
04:42Okay, I got it.
04:43Your name should be Spencer, and mine will be Jane.
04:48But another alleged inspiration, writer Pamela DeBar,
04:51was frustrated about being shut out from the film's depiction of groupie culture.
04:54I was standing there, and I heard somebody say,
04:57Oh, she must be a groupie.
04:59And I was like, Whoa, that must be me.
05:03Number 16.
05:04Maria Belon, The Impossible
05:06Physician Maria Belon was on a holiday in Thailand with her husband and children
05:10when they got caught in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
05:13Belon miraculously reunited with her family and was able to recover from severe injuries.
05:29Out of respect for the families that weren't so lucky,
05:32she sold her story to be made into a movie.
05:34The Impossible changed the Spanish family to British,
05:37with Belon being portrayed by her favorite actress, Naomi Watts.
05:40I was very aware of our connection,
05:44and the presence of her was the reminder of what we were doing at all times.
05:47I mean, there were so many reminders,
05:49because we were in the place that this story took place.
05:54The film was otherwise praised for its uncompromising accuracy and emotional force.
05:58It also notably featured an incredible breakout performance by a 14-year-old Tom Holland.
06:02More importantly, Belon has since used her stardom
06:05to advocate for fellow survivors around the world.
06:10Margaret Fairchild
06:17Once a World War II ambulance driver, a pianist, and a nun,
06:21Margaret Fairchild was known to the Camden Town elite
06:24as a nuisance for living in a van around their homes.
06:27She wound up spending the last 15 years of her life
06:29in the driveway of writer Alan Bennett.
06:31Some writers spend their lives writing about going to Patagonia
06:36or the thighs of two dozen women or whatever.
06:39Miss Shepard, it was part of what I was given.
06:41He then preserved Fairchild's bizarre story
06:44with a 1989 play starring Maggie Smith,
06:46who reprised the role in the 2015 film adaptation of The Lady in the Van.
06:49I mean, I ask for a wheelchair.
06:52What does she get me?
06:53A walking stick.
06:55And she says,
06:56I don't get an allowance unless I get an address.
06:59The commercial and critical hit is now remembered
07:01for one of Smith's last and greatest performances.
07:04It should also serve as a reminder
07:05that the outcasts of society
07:07could have had a life worthy of any theatre.
07:09It won't look as if I'm being taken away, will it?
07:13Taken away where?
07:14Where they take people,
07:16because they're not right.
07:19Do they do that still?
07:21Number 14.
07:21Kyle Damon, Good Will Hunting
07:23Matt Damon's superstardom started with an MIT janitor
07:26who's revealed to be a genius
07:27when he solves a near-impossible equation on a blackboard.
07:30Sorry.
07:31What do you do?
07:33Sorry.
07:35That's people's work.
07:36You kept graffiti here.
07:37Don't you walk away from me!
07:38Really, it all started with his brother Kyle.
07:40The artist was visiting a friend at the esteemed university
07:43when he jokingly wrote an unsolvable problem
07:45on a blackboard in the Infinity Corridor.
07:47The romantic idea of MIT students
07:50needing a convenient medium for sudden brilliant ideas
07:52gave Kyle's brother the brilliant idea of Good Will Hunting.
07:55How do you like them, Matt?
07:59The film won Matt and Ben Affleck
08:01the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
08:03while helping to establish them as major actors.
08:06Of course, when Matt gave the commencement address
08:08to MIT's class of 2016, he gave fair credit
08:11to the less famous Damon.
08:13And how lucky you are that you're here and you're you.
08:17And how lucky we are that you're here and you're you.
08:21Number 13.
08:22Paul Rusesabagina, Hotel Rwanda
08:24The summer of 1994 saw the horror of ordinary people
08:28slaughtering each other in Rwanda.
08:30It also saw ordinary people like Paul Rusesabagina
08:33risking everything to stop the violence.
08:35Most importantly, this cannot be a refugee camp.
08:40The Interahamway believe that the Mikulin
08:42is a four-star Sabino Hotel.
08:45That is the only thing that is keeping us alive.
08:48The manager of Kigali's Hotel de Mil Killeen
08:50sheltered more than a thousand Hutu and Tutsi
08:53fleeing the genocide.
08:54Ten years later, Hotel Rwanda won great acclaim
08:57for Don Cheadle's lead performance
08:58and for examining a historic tragedy
09:00that was often overlooked even as it was unfolding.
09:03Sir, I have more money actually.
09:07And let them give you something, some money,
09:09whatever they have, for it.
09:12Of course, the sudden spotlight motivated Rusesabagina
09:15to share this harrowing story
09:16through the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation.
09:19Even after continued persecution by his nation's government,
09:23he remains an outspoken proponent
09:24for a more just and peaceful society.
09:26They just killed many other guys all over the world.
09:32So, kidnapping people to Kagame,
09:35threatening each and every one,
09:37is a part of his mission.
09:39Number 12.
09:40Philomena Lee
09:41Many in Ireland suffered under the political power
09:44of the Catholic Church by the 1950s.
09:47An unwed mother at 19,
09:48Philomena Lee had no say or contact information
09:51when Sean Ross Abbey gave her son away for adoption.
09:54It's cold in there and it's dark in there.
10:01Nearly five decades later,
10:03she and BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith
10:05learned that Michael A. Hess
10:06became a government attorney in the U.S.
10:09He himself had long tried to find his birth mother
10:11before dying from AIDS.
10:12There's nothing to be done or said.
10:16I found my son.
10:18It's what I came here for.
10:19Sixsmith wrote about this heartbreaking journey
10:22in a book that was adapted into the highly accoladed Philomena,
10:25which won Judi Dench an Irish Film and Television Award.
10:28Lee then launched the Philomena Project
10:30to further crusade for adoption rights
10:32with the support of the Vatican.
10:34But it was very emotional watching it again.
10:36Do you feel it's just you were hurting today?
10:37I think so.
10:38I really think so.
10:39I think they were really listening.
10:40Number 11.
10:41Chris Gardner, Pursuit of Happiness
10:43Both the tragedy and the triumph of the American dream
10:46are exemplified in the story of Chris Gardner.
10:48He became unhoused with son Chris Jr.
10:50while seeking fortune in San Francisco in the 80s.
10:53Hi, Chris.
10:54Hi, Chris.
10:55How are you?
10:55I'm good.
10:56How are you doing?
10:57Fine.
10:57Thank you for asking.
10:58Yeah, first day in there.
10:59It was exciting.
11:01Finally, he made millions as a stockbroker and businessman
11:04before gaining national attention
11:05for a 2002 interview with ABC News.
11:07Then, after getting himself into a training program
11:10and proving he could keep company with the best of them,
11:13he became a multimillionaire stockbroker.
11:15Come on, man.
11:16It was one amazing ride.
11:18This led to a memoir and the film Pursuit of Happiness,
11:20which won Will Smith universal acclaim
11:22and launched the career of his own son, Jaden.
11:25Gardner's story has since courted controversy
11:27for propagating myths about capitalist social mobility.
11:30His subsequent enterprises as a motivational speaker
11:33nonetheless display what people are capable of
11:35with enough entrepreneurial spirit and smarts.
11:38Number 10, Kim Sabok, a taxi driver.
11:51ARD reporter Jürgen Hinzpeter exposed the atrocities
11:54of Chun Doo-hwan's regime during the Gwangju uprising in 1980.
11:58He couldn't have done it without an unidentified taxi driver
12:10who risked his life to ferry Hinzpeter
12:12to bloody protests across South Korea.
12:14This was dramatized in 2017's A Taxi Driver,
12:17which swept the film award season
12:19along with lead actor Song Kang-ho.
12:21The film's popularity led to the son of Kim Sabok
12:33finally confirming the identity of the fabled hero.
12:37Sadly, he had died from cancer four years after the uprising,
12:40but a taxi driver now immortalizes Kim
12:42and the idea that there are no small parts
12:44in the fight for a better world.
12:45Why are you so sad?
12:47You're a good man.
12:54You did a good job.
12:55Number 9, Robert Cunningham and Phyllis Penzo.
12:58It Could Happen to You.
12:59There's enough cinematic fantasy in the real story
13:01of New York police detective Robert Cunningham
13:03splitting a lottery ticket as a tip for waitress
13:06Phyllis Penzo in 1984.
13:08True to his word, he promptly gave half
13:09of the $6 million winnings to his friend.
13:11If this ticket wins, I'll come back tomorrow
13:14and split the proceeds, and if it doesn't,
13:15I'll still come back and leave you a tip.
13:17What do you think?
13:18I think I'm never going to see you again.
13:20You'll see me tomorrow.
13:22Well, I'll be here.
13:23You got a deal.
13:24It Could Happen to You expanded this already wild tale
13:27into Nicolas Cage's Charlie falling for Bridget Fonda's Yvonne
13:31when his estranged wife tries to keep the money.
13:33The movie became a box office success
13:35and a cult classic among rom-com fans.
13:38If you don't want me, I'll walk right out that door
13:41and you'll never see me again.
13:42But please stop talking about the money.
13:46It means nothing to me.
13:49The true story isn't that exciting
13:50as Cunningham and Penzo invested their money wisely,
13:53kept working, and stayed friends.
13:55Chaos with fortune and fame in that order
13:57doesn't have to happen to everyone.
13:58Charlie, Muriel, and Yvonne all lived in a city
14:02where people prayed for miracles every day.
14:05And sometimes, they happened.
14:07Number 8. Mehran Karimi Nasseri – The Terminal
14:10A series of disputed events left Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri
14:15stateless and locked in Europe's immigration bureaucracy for decades.
14:19Starting in 1988, he was detained in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for 18 years.
14:24There's a man walking around the terminal in a bathrobe.
14:28I know, sir.
14:30You put him there.
14:31In that time, Steven Spielberg made a comedy featuring Tom Hanks
14:36as a European refugee who settles in New York's JFK airport.
14:40But it was Tom Hanks who truly immortalized him in 2004
14:44in Steven Spielberg's The Terminal.
14:47The Terminal was a box office smash
14:49that went on to become a favorite for fans of the filmmaker and actor.
14:52Alas, the rest of the real story was not so feel-good.
14:55After his shelter was dismantled during a hospital visit in 2006,
14:58Nasseri struggled to get by in Paris.
15:00He ultimately returned to Charles de Gaulle airport to die in 2022.
15:04Last week, he returned there to finish his life
15:07amid the comings and goings of tourists and business travelers.
15:117. Manoj Kumar Sharma – 12th Fail
15:14Growing up in an impoverished and crime-ridden region,
15:17Manoj Kumar Sharma dreamed of one day joining the Indian Police Service.
15:21What's your second year?
15:23What's your second year?
15:25What's your second year?
15:26I'm going to interview you.
15:30At 30 years old in 2005, he passed his civil service examination on the fourth attempt.
15:35Anurag Pathak recorded this tale of dedication through bad luck and a flawed system in the book 12th Fail.
15:41The film adaptation proved to be its own underdog story as an unexpected critical and commercial hit.
15:4512th Fail wound up leading the Filmfare Awards with Vikrant Massey being the critics' pick for Best Actor,
15:59now an Inspector General.
16:01Sharma was himself awarded the Medal for Meritorious Service in 2024 for protecting and inspiring so many.
16:07Number 6. Kathy Coates' Grandparents – The Notebook
16:22One of the most beloved romance movies of the 2000s began with a best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks.
16:27But that, in turn, began with the grandparents of the author's then-wife, Kathy Coates.
16:31Though he never named them in interviews, he's spoken at length about their summer romance and fateful reunion for over 60 years of happy marriage.
16:38I wrote it to you every day for a year.
16:41You wrote me?
16:42Yes.
16:44It wasn't over.
16:47It still isn't over.
16:48Really, it can be said that this love story was the inspiration for many huge movies.
16:57The Notebook was Sparks' first novel, leading to a highly successful writing career that spawned a whole franchise of film adaptations.
17:102004's The Notebook is arguably the most acclaimed and enduring,
17:14made more moving by the fact that Sparks' romantic fantasy was based on real life.
17:18I know you feel lost right now, but don't worry.
17:22Nothing is ever lost, or can be lost.
17:25Number 5. John Nettleship – Harry Potter Series
17:27J.K. Rowling drew on her own youth when writing the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
17:33Harry Potter was a tribute to her friend Ian Potter, while the adults were inspired by teachers and even bikers.
17:38You're a wizard, Harry.
17:40But the most eerie bit of casting for the movie was the incomparable Alan Rickman as potions professor Severus Snape.
17:46In fact, he was comparable to John Nettleship, a brooding, long-haired chemistry teacher who intimidated young Rowling, at Wydeen School.
17:53Understandable. Over the years, I've played my part well. So well, I've deceived one of the greatest wizards of all time.
18:00The Harry Potter books and Rickman's impeccable casting in the films brought Nettleship unwanted celebrity.
18:05He cozied up to it as Snape became one of the most complex characters in the saga,
18:09reflecting how even the scariest educators can inspire beyond the classroom.
18:13Fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Potter?
18:18Number 4. Jeff Dowd – The Big Lebowski
18:21A case of mistaken identity gets a random slacker involved in the affairs of a wealthy man also named Jeff Lebowski.
18:27See what happens, Lebowski? You see what happens?
18:30Nobody calls me Lebowski. You got the wrong guy. I'm the dude, man.
18:34Really, our unlikely hero is more like the real-life Jeff Dowd. The dude, as his friends call him,
18:40was a counterculture activist who became an independent film producer with a taste for white Russians.
18:45After working with Dowd on a marketing campaign for Blood Simple,
18:48Joel and Ethan Coen built a character out of his cool quirks.
18:51Do I make myself clear?
18:56I'm sorry I wasn't listening.
18:58That character wound up driving The Big Lebowski as a comedy cult classic in one of Jeff Bridges' most iconic roles.
19:06That's a lot of Jeffs.
19:07Of course, if you ask the Coen brothers, there's truly only one, the dude.
19:11Take it easy, dude.
19:12Oh, yeah.
19:13I know that you will.
19:15Yeah, well, the dude abides.
19:19Number 3. Michelle Philpots – 50 First Dates
19:21Two severe car accidents left the English woman Michelle Philpots with brain damage that degenerated into enterragrade amnesia in 1994.
19:30Since then, she has not been able to form long-term memories,
19:33but she has managed to build a relatively content life with a husband she didn't even meet until years later.
19:37Uh, so whenever you're ready, we'd all love to talk to you and answer any questions you have,
19:43and you're the best, Lucy. Aloha.
19:46An article about this challenging but resilient marriage was the basis for the American rom-com, 50 First Dates,
19:54in which Adam Sandler dedicatedly courts Drew Barrymore after a car accident left her with the condition.
19:59Oh, there's one about me.
20:01Reminder. He makes funny noises when I kiss his neck.
20:05The film became a hit that inspired several remakes around the world,
20:09and while she may not know it, Philpots has inspired hope in countless people struggling with disability and finding love.
20:14Do you honily take this woman to be a lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forth, as long as you both shall live?
20:24I do.
20:25Number two. Dave Toshi. Various.
20:27When the Zodiac Killer was first headlining articles, the name Dave Toshi stood out.
20:31The San Francisco PD inspector's personal integrity, charisma, and stylish wardrobe epitomized a new generation of cops going into the 1970s.
20:39As a local celebrity, he was the model for Steve McQueen's performance in the 1968 classic, Bullet.
20:53With this and the Zodiac case bringing Toshi national attention,
20:57Clint Eastwood played the much unscrupulous Harold Dirty Harry Callahan in five films.
21:02You've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?
21:08The celebrity ultimately got to the inspector's head, as he was reassigned after forging fan letters to himself.
21:14But Mark Ruffalo's acclaimed performance redeemed him in David Fincher's 2007 epic Zodiac.
21:20Though his biggest case was never closed, the dedication of officers like Toshi is really what makes stars.
21:25Try and find more stuff for Sherwood. A match will get us farther on the warrants.
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21:47Number 1. Erin Brockovich
21:49Erin Brockovich
21:51A single mother of three and paralegal in 1993, Erin Brockovich was the last person Hollywood wanted to make a movie about.
21:57Then she found evidence that the Pacific Gas and Electric Company was contaminating the water in the humble town of Hinkley, California.
22:04I'm sorry. I just don't see why you're corresponding with PG&E about your medical problems in the first place.
22:12Well, they paid for the doctor's visit.
22:16They did.
22:17You bet.
22:18Through three years of diligent investigation, she was instrumental in landing the largest settlement in a direct action lawsuit in U.S. history.
22:26Four years after that, Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich became a critical and commercial sensation, winning Julia Roberts the Academy Award for Best Actress.
22:34You're erratic. You say any goddamn thing that comes into your head, you make this personal, and it isn't.
22:38It's not personal? That is my work! My sweat! My time away from my kids! If that's not personal, I don't know what it is!
22:47Brockovich herself became a high-profile activist, legal consultant, and media personality.
22:52It goes to show that anyone can become a star, but it's more important to inspire normal people to do something heroic.
22:57I want you to think real hard about what your spine is worth, Mr. Walker.
23:02Or what you might expect someone to pay you for your uterus, Ms. Sanchez.
23:06Then you take out your calculator, and you multiply that number by a hundred.
23:10Anything less than that is a waste of our time.
23:15By the way, we had that water brought in special for you folks.
23:19It came from Well and Hinkley.
23:21Who are some other ordinary people with extraordinarily cinematic lives?
23:25Tell their stories in the comments.
23:27Bye!
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