Aahana Swrup
Apple’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon‘ charts a story about the Apollo 11 mission and a contingency Project Artemis, unfolding in NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center during the late 1960s. Launch Director Cole Davis works toward perfecting the Apollo Program’s upcoming moon landing when his department welcomes a brand new face in Public Affairs, marketing expert Kelly Jones. The latter’s less-than-upright tactics grind on his integrity, leading to a hot-and-cold dynamic between the duo.
However, unbeknownst to him, further unpleasant surprises brew behind his back as Kelly receives orders from the top to prepare a backup replica of the moon landing to fake a broadcast should the need arise. In the film’s conspiratorial take on a historical event, Cole Davis seamlessly emerges as a compelling character whose basis in reality is bound to become a point of intrigue.
Eugene Kranz and Gerald D. Griffin: The Potential Inspirations Behind Cole Davis
Despite the historically familiar background of ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ which revolves around the Apollo 11 mission, the film itself has a largely fictitious narrative center. From Project Artemis—wherein government officials prepare fake moon landing footage as a contingency plan—to Kelly Jones, a con artist who becomes in charge of NASA’s PR, the story’s most relevant elements are a work of fiction. Naturally, the same applies to Cole Davis, who isn’t directly based on real-life individuals. Even so, his attributes can seemingly be traced back to two actual NASA Flight Directors, Eugene Kranz and Gerald Griffin, who could’ve served as potential inspirations for the character.
Eugene “Gene” Francis Kranz is NASA’s former second Chief Flight Director, best known for his involvement in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Programs. As such, Kranz held the real-life position on the Apollo 11 mission that Cole helms on-screen. Likewise, after Apollo 1’s unfortunate accident, the real-life Flight Director took responsibility for the tragedy and urged others at the Agency to hold themselves accountable for their oversights.
Consequently, even though parts of Cole’s involvement with Apollo 1—including his close friendships with the astronauts on the mission—are fictional, his guilt and regret seem to be based on Kranz’s actual experiences. Likewise, the former shares the real Flight Director’s backstory as an ex-military pilot who once dreamed of being an astronaut. Alternatively, Gerald “Gerry” Griffin also poses a potential real-life inspiration for Cole’s character.
Griffin, who became a Flight Director in 1968 for the Apollo Program—with Apollo 7—helmed the role as the lead for various missions, including Apollo 12, 15, and 17. Therefore, even though he wasn’t a part of the same mission as Cole, he holds technical knowledge about the character’s experiences. Since Griffin serves as a NASA consultant on ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ it’s fair to assume some of his characteristics and experiences would have bled into Cole’s character.
The Fictional Roots of Cole Davis’ Story in the Movie
Cole Davis remains a fictional addition to his similarly fabricated storylines despite the real-life influence behind the character. A central aspect of Cole’s narrative stems from his involvement with Kelly Jones, the marketer for the Apollo program, who gets roped into Project Artemis. The film’s inclusion of the latter project is entirely fictitious and only serves as a nod and a humorous prod towards the persisting conspiracy theories about the government faking the moon landing of 1969.
Therefore, Cole’s significant involvement in the same plotline distances him even further from reality. Likewise, his romantic relationship with another NASA employee adds another layer of fictionality to this character since neither Kranz nor Griffin ended up marrying their colleagues. Therefore, more aspects of Cole’s storyline retain fictitious origins than realistic ones. For the same reason, even though real-life counterparts helmed his technical position within NASA during the Apollo Program, the character himself holds little roots in reality.
In a conversation with USA Today, Rose Gilroy, who penned the screenplay for ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ weighed in about the character and said. “Cole is really an amalgamation of so many of the flight directors and people who had to deal with the grief of Apollo 1 and then continue on to try and do the impossible. Cole—the character—is not real, but his grief is. Thousands of people who had jobs like that had to go to work every day, knowing they’re carrying the legacy of people they lost.”
