Are the Characters in The Wolf of Wall Street Real People? Separating Fact from Fiction
If you dig deeper into the veracity of the film The Wolf of Wall Street, it’s important to remember that it is quite faithful to the book penned by Jordan Belfort himself. However, there are key differences between the book and the film, and the movie’s truthfulness is debatable.
So, are the characters in The Wolf of Wall Street real people? It can be difficult to tell, especially since most of its bizarre scenes turn out to be accurate. But for what it’s worth, here’s an attempt to differentiate fact from fiction in Belfort’s crazy story.
Jordan Belfort: Real or Not Real?
The more general profile of Belfort’s story is followed carefully by the film version. It shows a talented and struggling salesman hailing from Long Island who got hired by a prominent investment firm, L.F. Rothschild, and then fired after Black Monday. He went on to work at Investors Center, a penny stock house (an investment firm which sells penny stocks or those that have a valuation of under $5). After a year, he opened a franchise of Stratton Securities right from his friend’s car dealership in Queens.
Both he and his partner made enough money to buy out the securities and formed Stratton Oakmont, which became one of the largest penny stock brokerage firms in the US. Like what happened in the movie, Belfort hired some colleagues and used drugs, like Lemmon 714s. Aside from that, The Wolf of Wall Street hookers numbered in the hundreds, especially during corporate parties. However, Belfort eventually ended up in prison for the shady scheme that had made him very wealthy.
The majority of actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s dialogue was derived from the biography that Belfort made and his over-the-top adventures, like crashing his car while under the influence of methaqualone (“Quaaludes”) and landing a chopper on his house’s lawn while stoned. He also insisted on a superyacht captain sailing through choppy waters, which ended up causing the boat to sink. Although some of these tales are hard to verify, the New York Times reported that the FBI agent who investigated Belfort told them, “everything he wrote [in his book] is true.”
However, there are also some very hard-to-believe stories from Belfort’s book–like tossing little people. His partner clarified this in his statement: “We never abused or threw [little people] in the office.” The same person also denied that there were any animals or a chimpanzee in their office. Also, no one called Belfort “the wolf.” Rather, that was a moniker coined by a Forbes writer.
Other Real Wolf of Wall Street Characters
Since both the original biography and film adaptation featured colorful characters, you should know about their true lives as well. These are the real Wolf of Wall Street characters:
Danny Porush/Donnie Azoff
The truth behind Donnie Azoff’s story is quite difficult to unmask. He was given a fictional name, and the character was made from a combination of real people’s experiences. His story closely resembles the account of Danny Porush, but Porush himself refuted the book’s details.
But here’s what we know: Porush lived in Belfort’s building and was trained by the latter before Stratton Oakmont was formed. The pair was also introduced to each other by Porush’s wife. He has also confirmed the book’s account of him eating a live goldfish owned by a Stratton employee. However, he denied having a threesome with another employee and Belfort.
It was also confirmed that Porush and Steve Madden were childhood friends, and the initial public offering (IPO) for the women’s shoe company was the most significant business move that the defunct Stratton Oakmont ever made.
Nadine/Naomi
The real names of Belfort’s wives, Denise Lombardo (Teresa) and Nadine Caridi (Naomi), were concealed from the book and film adaptation. Caridi and Belfort got the ball running after meeting for the first time at a party hosted by Stratton Oakmont, and they were introduced to each other by Teresa. Naomi was a model who had done beer commercials, which led Belfort to call her “Miller Lite girl.”
In both book and film versions, Belfort also calls Naomi the “Duchess of Bay Ridge” or “Duchess” for short, since she was originally from England but grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. According to the movie, Naomi also had an aunt called Emma (not Patricia), who laundered money to Swiss bank accounts at Belfort’s request. She also died while Belfort’s money was still left in the said accounts.
Aside from Naomi’s Aunt Emma, Belfort had a friend involved in the drug trade who had Swiss in-laws who did most of the money laundering. His friend later got arrested after a failed money hand-off with Porush, like what happened in the movie.
There was also a scene in the movie where Naomi spreads her legs open and tells Belfort that she won’t have sex with him anytime soon, only to discover that she was in full view of a CCTV camera. This scene was taken straight from the book, as was the confrontation scene when Naomi throws water at Belfort repeatedly.
Belfort also admitted to hitting his wife in the book and said that he kicked her down the stairs. Aside from that, he also threatened her that he would take their daughter away, putting the child in the car with him and then crashing it inside the property. He was heavily intoxicated with drugs at the time.
Mark Hanna
Mark Hanna’s Wolf of Wall Street contribution is very significant, as he gives seminal advice to Belfort that the key to being a successful broker is “cocaine and masturbation.” He is also one of the few people whose names were not altered in the memoir and film adaptation.
Since the movie came out, Hanna revealed his side of the story on YouTube, and he appears to give credence to Belfort’s accounts in his book. He was also convicted of stock fraud, like what happened in the movie. However, he did not pound his chest while humming; instead, this was an acting exercise that actor Matthew McConaughey often does on the set, which drew the attention of DiCaprio and film director Martin Scorsese. In the end, they let him incorporate the act into the film.
Special Agent Gregory Coleman/Patrick Denham
In The Wolf of Wall Street, real people’s life savings were wasted because of Belfort’s scheme, which caught the FBI’s attention. The name Patrick Denham is another fictitious character made up by Belfort, but an actual FBI agent investigated him for several years: Gregory Coleman. In an interview on CNBC back in 2007, the agent was shocked at Belfort’s Ponzi scheme’s obviousness.
However, the scene in the movie where they meet on Belfort’s yacht likely didn’t happen. Instead, Belfort first met the agent at his home when the latter came to arrest him. Belfort’s arrest also did not happen while he was filming an infomercial.
Famous Movie Scenes Compared with Reality
Still want proof of how accurate the film version was to real life? Here’s a side-by-side comparison for a few scenes, detailing the difference between what happened and what was fabricated for the film.
House Party
The rampant use of drugs and alcohol has been exaggerated for dramatic effect in the film. Also, the veracity of Belfort and Madden’s conversation is still up for debate, but it’s quite interesting to note the difference between Belfort’s real speech and what was written in the movie.
”I’m not fucking leaving”
Although the real-life version of this iconic scene does not live up to our imagination, it is one of the best surviving pieces of footage that shows how Belfort interacted with Stratton Oakmont employees. Belfort also said that he was a charismatic speaker who always got everyone’s attention in the office. Additionally, he also had to silence his very coked-up employees during his grandfather’s funeral.
Mad Max
The film’s portrayal of Rob Reiner (Mad Max) was almost on-point, aside from his exaggerated build. He was also documented on video talking angrily, as if he hadn’t undergone any anger management.
The Bottom Line
So, are the characters in The Wolf of Wall Street real people? We may never know which characters featured in the movie truly exist in real life or how accurate their stories were. Although there is evidence that much of it happened in real life, it’s also undeniable that Belfort loves to exaggerate his stories or outright tell lies. If you want to get more in-depth, the true story of The Wolf of Wall Street that Noah Kagan shared is one of the best resources you can find. Regardless of the story’s veracity, the movie is still fun to watch/rewatch, but it’s likely that many people won’t get its message. It’s not a guide for Ponzi schemes’ future leaders; it’s a cautionary tale of how greed will lead to your downfall.
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