Fly Me to the Moon is the perfect blend of facts and fiction that makes it an engaging watch. The film starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum is set against the backdrop of the moon landing and follows a love story between NASA director, Cole Davis, and marketing executive, Kelly Jones.
Since the love story is fictional, characters like Kelly and Cole are the creation of writer Rose Gilroy’s mind. However, as the premise is set against a real NASA mission that took place in the 1960s, we do get to see a handful of characters based on real personalities in the film.
Fly Me to the Moon Features Several Real Astronauts’ Characters
In the film, we get to see a dramatized version of the Apollo 11 moon mission, albeit with several creative liberties. Just like real life, there are characters of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins in the film, who were a part of the mission.
While the former two became the first humans to step foot on the moon in 1969, the latter waited in the command module to ensure that his teammates reached back safely. Fly Me to the Moon stars Orange Is the New Black actor Nick Dillenburg as Neil Armstrong, The Continental actor Colin Woodell as Buzz Aldrin, and The Morning Show actor Christian Zuber as Michael Collins.
Additionally, the heartbreaking real-life incident of the 1967 cabin fire, which killed three astronauts in a rehearsal test for the mission, also features in the film. Jeremy Carr, Peter Wallack, and Todd James Jackson star in the roles of deceased astronauts Ed White, Roger Chaffee, and Gus Grissom.
Finally, we get to see two more real-world figures in the Fly Me to the Moon, who were an integral part of the space race. Eugene Alper appears as former USSR president Nikita Khrushchev, and Aidan Patrick Griffin portrays Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet pilot who became the first human to travel to outer space in 1961.
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