The story of Mehran Nasseri, better known as The Terminal Man, came to an end in 2003 when he passed away. He was famous for his portrayal by Tom Hanks in the 2004 film The Terminal.
It takes a lot for your life story to inspire someone as accomplished Steven Spielberg, and it takes even more for your story to inspire a movie that grossed $219 million. But the movie business has truly blurred the line between what constitutes a true story by stretching the definitions of “inspired by” and “based on.” If you’re keeping count, based on means the story is a retelling of what actually happened, while inspired by just lifts the most interesting parts of a story.
Nasseri’s story had already become world-famous, but according to The Guardian, he wanted an author to come in and actually pen his biography — this time titled The Terminal Man. It’s as if Nasseri wanted people to know that his purpose was greater than just inspiring one of Tom Hanks’ best movies. People have trekked across the globe in search of purpose — and no, we’re not just making a reference to the somehow now-derided Hanks masterpiece Forrest Gump.
Nasseri invited the author of his biography to see exactly how he carried on in a day. He would wake up early in the morning and, thanks to well-wishers — mostly airport staff — sift through his endless vouchers. He would then take his meals from either Fish-O-Filet or McDonald’s, then wander around the airport while reading the newspaper at different pages. And regardless of how active or inactive the day was, he would jot down the events in one of his journals.
Nasseri’s life seemingly “began” at terminal 1 of the Paris airport terminals. He claimed that he had lost his documentation and that’s why he never left the airport — a place he ended up living in for 18 years. But when asked for exact details, Nasseri simply could not remember.
And as far as his moniker, Sir Alfred Mehran — it’s not surprising that he didn’t get the knighthood from the British royal family, but what is interesting is how he ended up getting the name in the first place. Apparently, when Nasseri still had hopes of leaving the Paris airport, he wrote to the Belgian embassy seeking shelter. They replied, “Dear Sir, Alfred.” He never looked back.
The book came out, and reportedly Nasseri loved the portrayal of his life story. So if you’re interested, you can get the book — or simply watch Tom Hanks’ film and have a great night instead. Eventually, however, Nasseri got sick from all the airplane fumes in the airport.
He was allowed into Paris, where he lived at a homeless shelter and led a rather quiet life from then on to the end of his life. No longer would he get interviews from all corners of the world — interviews that oddly always asked the same questions over and over again.
The Terminal is currently streaming on Netflix. However, if you prefer the much more grounded version of the story you can get The Terminal Man.
