Factual error: On several occasions the astronauts address the Capcom as "Andy." None of the Apollo 13 Capcoms were named Andy. Their names were Jack Lousma, Joe Kerwin, John Young and Vance Brand.
wizard_of_gore
16th Mar 2006
Apollo 13 (1995)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: While that is technically correct, many characters were condensed or changed to suit the movie. It's not a documentary, after all, it's a movie based on true events.
No, it's not a documentary, but all of the other characters have their "real life" names. Why change this one?
"Andy" was used to avoid viewer confusion between Jack Swigert and CAPCOM Jack Lousma.
Capcom is a composite character based on Jack R. Lousma and William Pogue. The others in the control room are all based on real people, mostly part of White Team (although White Team weren't on duty for all the events they are shown as covering in the film). Real characters are given real names; composite characters, such as the NASA director played by Joe Spano and Henry Hurt, the PR guy, are given fake names.
They changed and condensed many items in the movie. "I vunder where Gunther Vent" quote was from Apollo 7, not 13. The EECOM John Aaron was given another name, and the "steely eyed missile man" quote was from Apollo 12. Marilyn Lovell didn't lose her wedding ring in the shower, she found it.
No, they used John Aaron's real first name, which did clash with John Young (played by Ben Marley) when they were in the simulator scene together.