Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Who Is Michael Shannon's Character, Gary Noesner, in 'Waco'?

Tonight is the highly-anticipated premiere of Waco, starring Michael Shannon, John Leguizamo, Andrea Riseborough, Rory Culkin, Melissa Benoist, Paul Sparks, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim and Julia Garner.

The series will attempt to offer an accurate portrayal of what FBI agents were dealing with, as well as what members of the Branch Davidians were up against, during the 51-day stand-off at the Mount Carmel Center in Waco, Texas.


Gary Noesner Negotiated for the FBI During the Waco Siege

The series is partially based on Stalling for Time: My Life As An FBI Hostage Negotiator by Gary Noesner, as well as A Place Called Waco by Branch Davidian survivor David Thibodeau. Noesner was a hostage negotiator during the Waco siege and will be played by Michael Shannon in the series. In a 2010 article in Time magazine, he elaborated on his experience negotiating during the ordeal.

"I was only there the first half of it, but what was really challenging was I had a great team of negotiators who were able to accomplish so much in a really challenging case where there had already been significant loss of life. But... I had a tougher job because I had to deal with a very emotionally volatile on-scene commander and a very strong-willed tactical-team leader. It's frustrating when you feel really secure about pursuing a particular strategy, and are seeing that even achieve some of your goals, and then have that — albeit unintentionally — eroded and neutralized by someone else's perception on how to proceed."

Noesner was present during the first half of the stand-off, but was removed from the picture because of a difference in opinion of how the stand-off should proceed. In an interview with The Today Show recently, Noesner said, "In addition to the conflict inside the compound, there was conflict within the FBI. There was the negotiation team, who basically wanted to engage in dialogue and convince them to come out... and there was part of the FBI that wanted to force them out. Those two things were in contradiction and created a lot of problems."

In total, 76 people died, including Koresh. Noesner's negotiation team was able to get out 35 people, including 21 children over the first half of the 51-day siege.

He Spent Many Days on Set of 'Waco'

In an GQ interview with Michael Shannon, the actor says that Noesner was on set often and "we all got pretty close to him." He said for himself, it was very helpful to have Gary around; for Kitsch, it was helpful to have Branch Davidian David Thibodeau around.

Discussing the siege and his character further, Shannon said, "Gary was always finding himself in situations that were kind of impossible. It’s pretty rare that somebody’s able to be effective at [hostage negotiation]. It takes a huge amount of empathy, and cunning, and compassion, and resiliency, and patience. All five of those things are in pretty short supply nowadays."

Shannon added on that he believes there was some part of Koresh that wanted to escape the stand-off alive, and "Gary knew that was in there somewhere."

According to his website, Noesner retired from the FBI in 2003 after a 30-year long career. Today, he has three adult children and lives with his wife, Carol, in Virginia.

More from News

Sarah Jessica Parker
Marc Piasecki/WireImage

Sarah Jessica Parker Claps Back At Conservative Critics Who Want Her To 'Shut Up' About Politics And 'Act'

Nothing seems to get conservatives' goats quite like celebrities having political opinions—well, liberal and leftist celebrities, anyway.

They seem to love it when weird right-wing celebs like Kevin Sorbo get on the internet and say bizarre, usually counterfactual nonsense, or when JK Rowling does her darnedest to make her legacy not about Harry Potter but about her weird obsession with trans people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ann Coulter
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Ann Coulter Faces Fierce Backlash After Saying 'We Didn't Kill Enough Indians' In Deleted Post

Far-right provocateur Ann Coulter is facing fierce criticism after she made a genocidal remark in a now-deleted post on X in response to University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member Melanie Yazzie's speech about colonization.

Yazzie, in a speech at last year's annual Socialism Conference, said "decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species" during a panel hosted by Red Nation, a Native American nonprofit that advocates for Palestinian and Native American rights. She also said that the United States is the "greatest predator empire that has ever existed" and said it should be dismantled.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Gunn
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

James Gunn Bluntly Fires Back At 'Jerks' Who Criticize Superman's Pro-Immigrant Themes

Superman director James Gunn issued a response to the "jerks" who criticize the political themes inherent to the superhero's story, expressing his hope that seeing the movie will "make people a little nicer."

Speaking with The Times of London, Gunn stressed that the story of Superman is more relevant than ever considering the ongoing political turmoil in the United States largely centered around the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Keep ReadingShow less

Things People Do In Relationships That Seem Sweet But Are Actually Toxic

Content Warning: Controlling and Toxic Relationship Behaviors

We've all either been involved in or witnessed a relationship where we saw something that we thought was cute or sweet at first, but we eventually found the behavior to be troubling or "too much."

Keep ReadingShow less
A piggy bank surrounded by loose change.
coin bank

'Poor Person Habits' People Won't Give Up No Matter How Rich They Get

When money is tight, we look for every possible way to avoid spending it.

As much as we might find ourselves missing out on some of the nicer things life has to offer, we find ourselves contented by the fact that we will always have enough money in our bank accounts to pay our bills on time.

Keep ReadingShow less