Boys Don't Cry (1999) Starring Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny inspired by the real life story of Teena Brandon
Reel Face:	Real Face:
Hilary Swank Born: July 30, 1974 Birthplace: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA	Brandon Teena (a.k.a. Teena Brandon) Born: December 12, 1972 Birthplace: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA Date of Death: December 31, 1993 (murdered)
Chloe Sevigny Born: November 18, 1974 Birthplace: Springfield, Massachusetts, USA	Lana Tisdel Born: ? Birthplace: ?

"I knew who she was. She said she had to get her head back together. She wanted to come back to her old life and her old life was Teena Brandon."
- JoAnn Brandon (Teena's Mother), 2000.





Was the real Lana Tisdel happy with Chloe Sevigny's portrayal of her?
No. The real Lana Tisdel sued the filmmakers, claiming that they depicted her as a drug-addicted drunk, citing that the movie makes references to her as "lazy, white trash and a skanky snake." The film also falsely depicts Tisdel falling asleep at the murder scene and "doing nothing about it after it has occurred," as stated in Tisdel's lawsuit.

How did Teena's mother, JoAnn Brandon, react to the film Boys Don't Cry?
JoAnn Brandon was outraged by the film's portrayal of her daughter Teena. In early 2000, JoAnn, who could not work because of severe asthma, still owed money for her daughter's funeral. She said that she was irritated that a fund set up to pay for the funeral received meager contributions, while others, such as the filmmakers, profited from her daughter's death. "I'm really sick and tired of people making money off my child," JoAnn said in an Associated Press article. "I don't understand how you can put three weeks of somebody's life up on film and win an award for it."



Did the filmmakers interview Teena's mother, JoAnn Brandon, for the movie Boys Don't Cry?
The filmmakers did not interview Teena's mother, JoAnn, for the film that they were making about her daughter. JoAnn was upset that they also neglected to interview Teena's close friends and relatives. (The Associated Press)

What did Teena Brandon's mother think of Hilary Swank's Oscar acceptance speech?
Teena's mother, JoAnn Brandon, was upset that Hilary Swank referred to her daughter in her speech as Brandon Teena, her daughter's male alter ego. "That set me off," JoAnn Brandon said. "She should not stand up there and thank my child. I get tired of people taking credit for what they don't know."

What does Teena's mother believe made her daughter want to become a man?

Teena Brandon

JoAnn Brandon, Teena's mother, was upset that the filmmakers failed to explain that for several years when Teena was a young girl, Teena had been sexually molested by a man. JoAnn said that Teena sought counseling in 1991, and began to dress in men's clothing and date women as a defense strategy. "She pretended she was a man so no other man could touch her," JoAnn said in an Associated Press article.

Had Teena's mother been in touch with her daughter at the time of Teena's death?
Teena's mother last spoke to Teena on December 30th, the day before Teena's death. Her mother said that she had clearly spoke to a woman. (The Associated Press)

How did the local townspeople react to the film when it opened?
Reactions from the locals of Falls City, Nebraska were less than complimentary. The film depicted most of them as drunks. "It's nothing like the town that's in the movie," said Virginia Ernst, a local Falls City movie theater manager. Resident Jared Kirkendal agreed. "That's not Falls City," he said at the end of the film. Kirkendal also commented in an Associated Press article, "It's weird they made it more of a love story than a crime."

What did Sarah Nissen, cousin of attacker Tom Nissen, think of the film?
An 18-year-old high school student at the time of the film's release, Sarah Nissen, cousin of attacker Marvin Thomas Nissen, said that everything that Tom told her about the actual events indicates that the film's storyline is wrong. "There's none of it that's right," she said. "It was just weird."

What has become of Teena Brandon's killers, John Lotter and Tom Nissen?
John Lotter is on death row awaiting execution in the state's electric chair. Tom Nissen is serving a life sentence in prison. Nissen's sentence came after he agreed to testify against Lotter. The two men were convicted of the murder of Teena Brandon, who used the alias Brandon Teena when she posed as a man. They killed the 21-year-old in an attempt to silence her after she told the police that they raped her when they learned her true gender. Two others who were witness to Teena's murder were also killed at the scene by the two men.

Does Kimberly Peirce, writer and director of Boys Don't Cry, believe her film is true to the real story of Teena Brandon?
Kimberly Peirce said that she is aware that she took dramatic liberties with the film. One of these liberties includes the exclusion of the second witness, who was also murdered at the scene.

Was Boys Don't Cry based on the book All She Wanted by Aphrodite Jones?
No. Aphrodite Jones did however file a lawsuit against Fox Searchlight, claiming that the studio backed out of a deal that involved her book being turned into a movie with Drew Barrymore. She claimed that the studio backed out when they discovered Boys Don't Cry and purchased the rights to that film instead.

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Hilary Swank Character-to-Actress Comparison:

Hilary Swank as Teena Brandon		Hilary Swank at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards
It was quite a drastic transformation for the actress, Hilary Swank (pictured both left and right above). It was a transformation that yielded her a Best Actress Oscar and future roles in films like Insomnia (2002) opposite Al Pacino.