REEL FACE: | REAL FACE: |
Wagner Moura
Born: June 27, 1976 Birthplace: Rodelas, Bahia, Brazil | Sergio Vieira de Mello
Born: March 15, 1948 Birthplace: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Death: August 19, 2003, Baghdad, Iraq (Canal Hotel bombing) |
Ana de Armas
Born: April 30, 1988 Birthplace: Havana, Cuba | Carolina Larriera
Born: abt 1972 Birthplace: Bahía Blanca, Argentina |
Brían F. O'Byrne
Born: May 16, 1967 Birthplace: Mullagh, County Cavan, Ireland | Gil Loescher
Born: March 7, 1945 |
Garret Dillahunt
Born: November 24, 1964 Birthplace: Castro Valley, California, USA | U.S. Army Sergeant William von Zehle
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Bradley Whitford
Born: October 10, 1959 Birthplace: Madison, Wisconsin, USA | Paul Bremer
Born: September 30, 1941 Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut, USA |
While researching the Sergio true story, we discovered that, to a large degree, the Netflix film was inspired by the 2009 HBO documentary Sergio. Both the Netflix movie and the Sergio documentary were directed by Greg Barker. The screenplay for the film was written by Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club). The movie was also inspired by the book Chasing the Flame by Samantha Power.
Yes. While researching the Sergio fact vs. fiction, we discovered it's true that Argentinian U.N. economic adviser Carolina Larriera, portrayed by Ana de Armas, met the father-of-two when he was brokering a peace deal between the Indonesian government in East Timor and the rebels. The real-life Larriera was 29 at the time and the much older de Mello was approximately 53 with two grown sons. Their love affair resulted in de Mello deciding to end his marriage. However, it should be noted that while they had not been officially divorced, de Mello and his wife Annie had been separated for nearly two decades.
Carolina Larriera and Sergio Vieira de Mello had been living together in Paris for over three years. According to Larriera, they were engaged and planned to get married after leaving Baghdad. A Sergio fact check confirms that it's also true that Carolina Larriera was later recognized by Brazil as Sergio Vieira de Mello's "civil union spouse," a fact she emphasizes on her own official website.
Yes. Like in the Sergio Netflix movie, she found him buried under carpeting, furniture, and beams. She tried to move several tons of concrete but to no avail. Carolina says that they exchanged words of love and comfort after he told her that he was in a lot of pain and could not get himself loose. Before long, she was forcibly pulled out from the rubble. She says that she tried to explain who he was and tell them where he was trapped, but there appeared to be no urgency to extract him. She was blocked from trying to go back inside. -Carolina Larriera Official Website
Yes. In researching how accurate is Sergio on Netflix, we confirmed that Gil Loescher, who is portrayed by Brían F. O'Byrne in the movie, was severely injured but survived the attack. Loescher was Professor of International Relations at the University of Notre Dame and was also an expert on refugees. He had traveled to Baghdad to provide input on the human cost of war and reconstruction. The true story reveals that he was indeed trapped with U.N. Special Envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, who did not make it out alive. Loescher lost both his legs and suffered other terrible wounds to his face and body.
A Sergio fact check verifies that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ordered the August 19, 2003 suicide bombing of the Canal Hotel in Iraq, which was the headquarters for the United Nations in Iraq (it had been since the early 1990s). Zarqawi was later killed by a joint U.S. force on June 7, 2006 in a targeted bombing of a safe house where he was having a meeting in the village of Hibhib in northern Iraq.
No. Just a month later on September 22, 2003, another suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, the location of the U.N. headquarters in Iraq. The blast killed an Iraqi policeman, the bomber, and injured 19 others, including U.N. employees.
Expand your knowledge of the real story behind Sergio on Netflix by watching video of the top U.N. diplomat below.