Does Jessica Chastain deserve to take home the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal in Zero Dark Thirty? The Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011 seems to think so.
In a moving new interview with Esquire magazine, the anonymous Navy SEAL (referred to as "the Shooter" throughout the article) reveals how the historical event has changed his and his family's lives forever, as well as his thoughts on the acclaimed, controversial film based on his real-life experience.
Chastain's character of CIA agent "Maya" is based on a real woman, whose identity remains hidden, and the Shooter says that Chastain's portrayal was "awesome." "They made her a tough woman, which she is," he explained.
But he also pointed out that there are plenty of inaccuracies in the film.
Overall, there was too much talking between SEAL team members during the film — as silence is the standard practice, and they would never yell "breacher" during an assault, the Shooter noted.
"It was fun to watch. There was just little stuff," he said. "The helos turned the wrong way [toward the target], and they talked way, way too much [during the assault of bin Laden's compound itself]. If someone was waiting for you, they could track your movements that way."
While watching the film, he also commented, "They torture the s–t out of people in this movie, don't they? Everyone is chained to something."
The Shooter said the tactics "sucked" in the film and "the mission in the damn movie took way too long" compared to real events. He added, "When Osama went down, it was chaos, people screaming. No one called his name . . . They Hollywooded it up some."
After he shot and killed bin Laden, the Shooter says he brought the real-life "Maya" over to his body and she wept. "That's when I took my magazine out of my gun and gave it to her as a souvenir," he said. "Twenty-seven bullets left in it. That was the last time I saw her."
