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Apple TV+‘s fiery new crime drama, Smoke, is the latest collaboration between best-selling author/award-winning film and TV creator Dennis Lehane and Emmy-nominated actor Taron Egerton. And like Black Bird before it, the series is inspired by a compelling, jaw-dropping true story.
Black Bird told the true story of suspected serial killer Larry Hall, adapting James Keene’s memoir, In With the Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption. While Smoke in inspired by the Firebug podcast, which reported on real-life arson and arson investigators.
Per Apple TV+, “Smoke follows a troubled police detective, Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) and an enigmatic arson investigator, Dave Gudsen (Egerton), as they pursue the trails of two serial arsonists.”
So how much of Smoke is based on a true story? What do we know know about the Firebug podcast that inspired Smoke? And who is John Leonard Orr, the real-life serial arsonist whose story Smoke adapts? Read on for answers, including input from Lehane himself.
Is Smoke Based On A True Story?
Yes! Smoke on Apple TV+ is inspired by a true story, specifically the one told through truth.media’s acclaimed Firebug podcast, hosted by Oscar and Emmy winner Kary Antholis, who not only served as an executive producer on Black Bird, but is also an EP on Smoke for Crime Story Media, LLC. and credited with writing Episode 4 of the series.
Initially, Lehane was reluctant to adapt Black Bird, because he wasn’t a fan of serial killer stories or prisons. When asked if he had that same hesitation after hearing the Firebug podcast and what ultimately inspired him to tell the story of serial arson in Smoke, here’s what Lehane told Decider: “I think it’s becoming fascinating that I only do projects I initially wanna turn down. It’s true. My instinct is always to say, ‘No, that’s not for me.’ This was brought to me by Kary Antholis, and I remember when he told me what the podcast was about I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I’ll listen to it.’ And then I listened to it and I remembered coming back to him and saying, ‘Look, I would do this if I can throw out most of the actual story because that’s what interests me.”
Photo: Apple TV+While Smoke was inspired by real events, Lehane admittedly took many creative liberties when crafting the series. To point out a few: He changed names, reimagined characters and storylines, told the story in present-day (rather staying true to the true 80s/90s timeline), and he set the series in a fictional town in America’s Pacific Northwest called Umberland. At the heart of Smoke, however, Lehane explored the real psychological and emotional aspects associated with arsonists that stood out to him from the podcast.
“What interests me is this idea of denial, of lying to oneself, of telling yourself stories about who you are when it’s not even close to who you are in terms of persona. That was what I was interested in,” Lehane told Decider over Zoom. “And then, I like fire. I’m scared of fire, but I like the idea of what fire means emotionally and psychologically, and what that could bring out in people. So [I said] ‘I can start from there. If you let me run really far afield on this, then I’ll do it.'”
The Firebug Podcast That Inspired Apple TV+’s Smoke:
For those who don’t know, the word “firebug” means arsonist. Curious to learn more about truth.media’s Firebug podcast, which inspired the Apple TV+ series? You can listen to the 10-episode true crime exploration via Apple Podcasts and read more about the true story below. Just be warned, some major Smoke spoilers lie ahead, so if you haven’t watched the first two episodes and don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to stop reading…
Photo: Apple TV+Who Is John Leonard Orr? What To Know About The Real-Life Serial Arsonist Whose Story Inspired Smoke
The Firebug podcast’s synopsis is as follows: “For ten years, a serial arsonist terrorized Southern California, burning down businesses in broad daylight. Four people were murdered. Then, a manuscript for a novel led investigators to the last person they would have suspected.” That serial arsonist was John Leonard Orr, and though there isn’t a character with the same name in Smoke, his story did set the foundation for the series.
Orr was a former fire captain-turned-arson investigator (sound familiar?!) who spent years investigating suspicious fires throughout California. He caught more than 40 serial arsonists, per the Los Angeles Times, only to be dubbed one of the world’s most prolific serial arsonists himself. After Orr’s fingerprint was eventually matched to one found on an incendiary device at a Craft-Mart in Bakersfield, the arson investigator was tried and convicted. Among the 2,000+ fires he’s believed to have set, the LA Times reports, was a deadly blaze at Ole’s Home Center in October 1984, which killed four people including a two-year-old boy.
Photo: Apple TV+While working as an arson investigator, Orr also started writing a novel, titled Points of Origin, which pulled from his own personal experience on the job and included parallels to real-life blazes like Ole fire. That manuscript was ultimately viewed as additional incriminating evidence. In 1998, Orr was sentenced to life in prison, with the LA Times reporting, “Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry ordered the 17-year firefighting veteran to spend four consecutive life terms in prison for the 1984 fire at Ole’s Home Center, in addition to 20 years for other fires that damaged or destroyed dozens of homes in La Canada and Glendale in the early 1990s.”
Between the Firebug podcast, Orr’s book, and other adaptations of the story, like the 2002 film Point of Origin, there’s lots more to learn about the serial arsonist as you watch the story true story take on a life of its own in Smoke on Apple TV+. But trust us: Even if you’re familiar with the real-life events, you have no idea where this series is going.
Smoke premieres on Apple TV+ on June 27 with new episodes dropping Fridays.
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