The Instigators: Are Rory and Cobby Based on Real Boston Thieves?

Directed by Doug Liman, Apple TV+’s ‘The Instigators’ stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as Rory and Cobby, who join a heist for personal reasons but end up going on a completely different journey. What was supposed to be a foolproof plan that would have them in and out of the target in fifteen minutes turns into something that much more drastic for the duo. The story takes many twists and turns before it shows us where Rory and Cobby end up. What makes the film even better is how realistically the characters are portrayed, enough to make one wonder if the characters are inspired by real-life people. SPOILERS AHEAD

Rory and Cobby in The Instigators are Entirely Fictional

‘The Instigators’ is a fictional story written by Chuck MacLean and reworked by Casey Affleck. When the script received backing, it went through several iterations on the page, refined by the arrival of each new collaborator on the film. The biggest changes happened in the way Rory and Cobby are portrayed in the film. The writers, the director, and the actors all brought something different to the table to make the characters more realistic and relatable. At the end of the day, however, Rory and Cobby remain entirely fictional.

Described as the ‘Bad News Bears’ of heist movies, ‘The Instigators’ was created with comedy and action in mind. The two characters were supposed to be each other’s balancing acts. When the filmmakers looked at Cobby’s character, they wanted to make Rory into something that would act as a “perfect foil” for Affleck’s character. It was important to have Rory and Cobby as different from each other as possible, and this led the filmmakers to focus on Rory’s backstory, including the fact that he has never committed a crime before, while Cobby is an ex-con. The differences between the characters become more evident as they find themselves in tricky situations. Cobby is more street-smart and always thinks on his feet, while Rory is more cautious and uncertain, taking notes to get a better sense of situations.

This unlikely pairing serves as the soul of the story and has been loosely inspired by films like ‘Midnight Run’ and ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ The more than four decades-long friendship between Damon and Affleck also worked well in the movie as the actors brought on board not just their familiarity with each other but also their familiarity with the city, which becomes a character of its own in the movie. Both the actors grew up in and around the city. Chuck MacLean, who wrote the first draft of the film, grew up around Quincy, which he factored heavily into the script. Further, Bostonian influence in the story was added by the cast, giving the story and its characters a distinct nature. All of this opened the space for improvisation and Doug Liman encouraged the actors to go along with it.

The Boston setting also served as a good reference point for the writers to create Rory and Cobby. Affleck revealed that the intention was to have “a real Boston perspective and feel” reflected in the characters, and they had the working-class people of Boston in mind while working on the characters and the story. At the end of the day, the actors said that the movie aims to represent the resilience of people who are going through some very difficult times in their lives and still find the spark and humor in life. They wanted the audience to be able to connect with the characters and find themselves reflected in them.

Read More: The Instigators: Where Was the Apple TV+ Movie Filmed?