The Terminal: Man who inspired Tom Hanks film after living in airport for 18 years dies
The man who inspired Tom Hanks film The Terminal has died at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, where he lived for 18 years.
Iranian national Mehran Karimi Nasseri had a heart attack in Terminal 2F on Saturday, according to an official with the Paris airport authority.
Emergency services were called to help Mr Karimi Nasseri but could not save him.
He lived in Terminal 1 of the airport from 1988 until 2006, initially in legal limbo because he did not have residency papers.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri’s story inspired the 2004 film The Terminal starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones. Pic: AP
But he later remained at the airport by choice, according to French media reports.
An official said he was living in the airport again in recent weeks.
His story inspired the 2004 film starring Tom Hanks, who plays Viktor Navorski, a man trapped at JFK airport in New York after being denied entry to the US – but unable to return to his homeland, the fictional eastern European state of Krakozhia, due to a military coup.
Mr Karimi Nasseri, also known as “Sir Alfred” of Charles de Gaulle Airport, laid bare his experience in a book entitled The Terminal Man, published in the same year as the film.
He was born in 1945 in Soleiman, a part of Iran formerly under British jurisdiction, to an Iranian father and British mother.
He left Iran to study in England in 1974 but was imprisoned on his return for political activism before being expelled.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri pictured at Charles de Gaulle Airport in August 2004. Pic: AP
Mr Karimi Nasseri found himself trapped in international no man’s land without the proper documentation after claiming to have been mugged on his way to Charles de Gaulle Airport in 1988.
He boarded a plane to London but was sent back to Paris – where he was arrested when he tried to leave the airport.
According to the bio for his book, Mr Karimi Nasseri was jailed for six months before returning to Charles de Gaulle airport where he was refused access to any other nation, giving him no choice but to stay.
He slept on a red plastic bench surrounded by newspapers and magazines stored in cargo boxes and showered in staff facilities.
Mr Karimi Nasseri seen sleeping at the airport. Pic: AP
‘Fossilised’ in airport after ordeal
He told the Associated Press in 1999: “Eventually I will leave the airport. But I am still waiting for a passport or transit visa.”
But Mr Karimi Nasseri revealed his surprise when he finally was granted refugee papers, describing his fears over leaving the airport.
He reportedly refused to sign them and stayed at Charles de Gaulle for several more years before he was admitted to a hospital in 2006.
He had been living in the airport again in recent weeks up until his death, the official with the Paris airport authority said.
A ticket agent friend compared him to a prisoner incapable of “living on the outside”.
Years of living in a windowless space impacted his physical and mental health, an airport doctor said, describing him as “fossilised here”.
As well as inspiring the Hollywood film, his story was used as the basis for French screenplay Lost In Transit and an opera entitled Flight. It was also featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles.
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John David Washington says he felt like he had to conceal his desire to act because of the external expectations of him being the child of Denzel and Pauletta Washington.
He tells Sky News it took some time for him to pursue an acting career, choosing football instead to assert his “independence” and create his own “identity” separate from his famous family.
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life… but I was hiding it,” he said.
“I had to conceal that passion based on my relationship to the world and more specifically, my folks being in the industry, so I chose ball.
“I loved ball, but I was sort of hiding my love for the arts under a helmet – literally an American football helmet – and so when I wanted to become an actor, when I decided to pursue it, that was a big shock to some people.”
The 40-year-old actor says when he decided to pursue an acting career, he kept the decision quiet.
“Some people didn’t know I was even pursuing it professionally until I got a job,” he said.
John David with fellow actor Danielle Deadwyler. Pic: David Lee/ Netflix
Since switching to acting, John David has starred in a number of notable roles including the protagonist in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Ron Stallworth in BlacKkKlansman and Joshua in The Creator.
He also led the stage revival of the 2022 Tony-nominated play The Piano Lesson on Broadway alongside Samuel L Jackson.
“He [Jackson] originated the role [I play] in 1987 at Yale with Lloyd Richards and August Wilson,” John David said.
“So it was of great importance for us to learn from both he and Michael Potts about August Wilson. It was a great blessing for me, I think, for all of us to have him present on set.”
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The Piano Lesson is the third August Wilson play to be adapted for the screen by Denzel Washington’s production company Mundy Lane Entertainment.
It is part of a pledge made by the Gladiator II actor to make all 10 of the playwright’s works into films.
The Netflix project is directed by another Washington family member, Malcolm, and stars most of the cast from the Broadway revival.
The Piano Lesson is Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut. Pic: Katia Washington/ Netflix
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the Great Depression, the film centres on a family heirloom, a piano, that is etched with the carvings of their family history made by their enslaved ancestor.
Malcolm says he started reading the play for the first time during the pandemic and immediately wanted to be involved in the film adaptation.
“I think with this movie, reclamation of story and identity is so central to the theme and it’s something that’s central to my life where I both acknowledge the fertile ground that I was raised on and who I am today.
“That’s what Wining Boy [played by Michael Potts] really is trying to do, he’s trying to build on that legacy, so that’s a story that really resonated with me.”
The filmmaker added: “I take all the gifts that my ancestors laid in front of me, and I’m trying to build something for the next generation to pass down – all of their gifts, plus mine to the next generation and let them build on it.”
Malcolm has dedicated his directorial debut to his mother, Pauletta Washington. Pic: David Lee/Netflix
Malcolm says his goal was to put family at the forefront of the production. By dedicating his feature debut to “Mama”, he is acknowledging the dedication and sacrifices that mothers make for the growth of their families.
“There’s so much pointing to my mother in particular, who inspired this adaptation so much. I see so much of her life in Berniece’s character [played by Danielle Deadwyler] – and that became a guiding light for me in this adaptation,” he said.
“As we made this thing and started reconnecting with our ancestors, my mum became like a kind of representative of them.
“She’s the matriarch of our family. She tells me about my grandparents and great-grandparents and the line that I come from, and I see them in her.
“And when the movie ends, I want people to kind of have that moment of reflection for their own lives. So in dedicating it to her, I was trying to dedicate it to all mums everywhere.”
The Piano Lesson is now available on Netflix.
Blockbuster Wicked has landed the largest opening weekend of 2024 at Vue International.
The film, starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, surpassed both Gladiator II and Paddington In Peru.
It has also had the largest opening weekend for a stage musical adaptation in the cinema chain’s history.
A boss for Vue International said it had seen a “sea of pink and green” over the weekend.
Ariana Grande (left) as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in the film. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Released on Friday, Wicked is up 60% on Les Miserables’ opening weekend in 2012 and three times larger than the 2022 film adaptation of Matilda.
Founder and chief executive of Vue International Tim Richards said: “Vue has seen a sea of pink and green over the opening weekend of Wicked, which has shown continued high demand for the big screen experience.
“We saw record-breaking pre-sales for Wicked, followed by a chart-topping opening weekend – the biggest for 2024.”
The film is the first of two parts, with the second expected in November next year.
Wicked and Gladiator II – known together as Glicked – have reportedly failed to beat out Barbenheimer, Barbie and Oppenheimer, in its own opening weekend last summer.
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Glicked brought in £215m in worldwide ticket sales – with Wicked making the majority of that.
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