In Touchstone Pictures’ Armageddon the responsibility of deciding how to avert the end of the world rests squarely on the shoulders of NASA’s executive director Dan Truman played by Academy Award®-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton. Truman is the anchor, says Bruckheimer. He’s the one we have to rely on throughout the movie. Everyone thinks the idea he’s come up with is a fool’s errand so he has to stay true to himself and what he believes.
In talking to Air Force people and quite a few guys at NASA, including Jerry Bostick who was our mission control advisor, I found out that NASA’s not a military entity, it’s a civilian organization, explains Thornton. They don’t have to abide by military rules, but they do have to work in conjunction with one another. In this case, my character is the boss, I mean the President obviously has the ultimate say, but it’s still Truman’s rear end on the line.
